14 Reasons To Love Willie Nelson

Happy 80th Birthday! Thank you for the many decades of music making.

1. He was surprisingly straitlaced when he was young Willie.

2. He was a pioneer in outlaw country music, which challenged the conservative Nashville music scene.

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3. He played a veteran country musician performer in this movie.

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The film featured the song "On the Road Again," which earned Nelson an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.

4. He was in a supergroup with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson.

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5. He started Willie Nelson's Biodiesel that makes fuel for trucks out of vegetable oil.

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6. He supported same-sex marriage in the most awesome way possible.

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Read more of what Nelson said in his interview with Texas Monthly here.

7. This happened.

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8. He fights for marijuana legalization and is co-chair of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

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Nelson has been featured on the cover of High Times.

9. He got out of jail time with a song.

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10. After he was arrested in 2010 for possession of marijuana, he created the Tea Pot Party.

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With the motto: "Tax it, regulate it and legalize it!"

11. After 9/11, Nelson led the song "America the Beautiful" at America: A Tribute to Heroes.

12. He loves horses.

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He gave a several hundred-acre ranch in Texas to horses rescued by Habitat for Horses. More than 70 horses have lived on the ranch. He also supported the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act.

13. He lives on Maui near Woody Harrelson and Kris Kristofferson.

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14. He named his book Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die: Musings from the Road.

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