Willie Nelson played in his first band at age 10. Already he had a life philosophy. A year earlier, the Abbott, Texas, native had gotten drunk on beer for the first time and given up on personal salvation. “I had already [screwed] up more ways than God was going to put up with,” he said later. “So I had in mind, the sky’s the limit from here. I mean, I can’t go to hell twice.”
Sixty-five years later, the ponytailed “outlaw country” legend is still recording, still playing concerts, still drinking beer, still smoking pot. Beloved by millions, he is worshipped not just for his direct, tenderhearted music but also as a Zen guru of sorts. “Let’s not plan,” he once told a lawyer trying to help him manage his fortune. “It’s a lot more fun if we don’t.”
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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #5658]