Nelson's grandfather bought him a guitar when he was six, and taught him a few chords.

During a flight to Hollywood, the producers of the movie Honeysuckle Rose approached Willie about writing a song for the movie, in which he played a country singer juggling his music career with his reponsibilities to his wife and son. About 45 minutes later, Nelson had finished the lyrics ... on one of the airline's barf bags.

Stardust remained on the Top Country Albums Chart for 540 weeks -- that's 10 consecutive years!

Nelson's version of "You Were Always on My Mind" resulted in three wins at the 25th Grammy Awards in February 1983: songwriters Christopher, James, and Carson won Song of the Year and Best Country Song, while Nelson won for Best Male Country Vocal Performance.

In The Electric Horseman, Nelson plays a weathered cowboy named Wendell, who bucks up washed-up rodeo star Sonny Steele (Robert Redford) with doses of country wisdom. Nelson also sings five songs for the soundtrack, including the #1 country hit "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys."

Between 1985 and 1995, the group recorded three major label albums as The Highwaymen. They also starred together in the 1986 film Stagecoach.

On September 13, 1980, Willie and his band performed on the South Lawn of the White House for President Jimmy Carter. Nelson even performed "Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother" with First Lady Rosalynn Carter.

In 1990, Nelson's assets were seized by the Internal Revenue Service, which claimed that he owed $32 million. In 1992, Nelson released The IRS Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories?. The profits from this double album, along with money raised from the auction of Willie's remaining assets, cleared his debt.

"My heroes have always been cowboys
And they still are, it seems
Sadly, in search of, but one step in back of
Themselves and their slow movin' dreams"

During the 1990s, Nelson started to practice the Korean martial art GongKwon Yusul. In 2014, after twenty years in the discipline, his Grand Master Sam Um presented him with a fifth-degree black belt. Nelson had developed an unorthodox manner of training during the lengthy periods of time he was on tour. He would conduct his martial arts training on his tour bus "The Honeysuckle Rose" and send videos to his supervising Master for review and critique.