“Tender and intimate.”—The New Yorker
“Poignant, beautiful, heartfelt.”—New York Journal of Books
ONE OF THE BEST MUSIC BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Rolling Stone, Kirkus Reviews
Abandoned by their parents as toddlers, Willie and Bobbie Nelson found their love of music almost immediately through their grandparents, who raised them in a small Texas town. Their close relationship was the longest-lasting bond in both their lives.
In alternating chapters, this heartfelt dual memoir weaves together both their stories as they experienced them side by side and apart. The Nelsons share powerful, emotional moments from growing up, playing music in public for the first time, and facing trials in adulthood, as Willie pursued songwriting and Bobbie faced a series of challenging relationships and a musical career that took off only when attitudes about women began to change in Texas. This is Bobbie’s only memoir, and in it she candidly shares her life story in full. Her deeply affecting chapters delve into her personal relationships and life as a mother and as a musician with technical skills that even Willie admits surpass his own. In his poignant stories, Willie shares the depth of his bond with his sister, and how that bond carried him through his most troubled moments. Willie and Bobbie supported each other through unthinkable personal heartbreak, and they always shared in each other’s victories. Through dizzying highs and traumatic lows, spanning almost nine decades of life, Willie and Bobbie always had each other’s back.
Their story is an inspiring, lyrical statement of how family always finds the way.
Author
Willie Nelson
WILLIE NELSON is a music legend and national treasure with a six-decade career and over 200 albums. This iconic Texan is the creative genius behind the historic recordings of Red Headed Stranger, Crazy, and Stardust. Willie has earned countless awards and accolades as a musician, in addition to being a celebrated author, actor, and activist. He continues to thrive as a musical and cultural force, writing, singing, and playing with the wit and wisdom that comes from a life on the road. Learn more about his work on willienelson.com and follow him on Instagram at @willlienelsonofficial and on Twitter and Facebook at @willienelson.
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Bobbie Nelson
BOBBIE NELSON has played piano alongside her brother, Willie Nelson, for more than 50 years. She started in Abbott, Texas, as a young musician and reconnected musically with Willie in 1973 to record his album The Troublemaker. She has been a member of his Family Band ever since. In 2007, at age 76, Bobbie released her solo debut, Audiobiography, and in 2014, the brother-sister duo put out December Day, inspired by their many years playing and recording together. She is an inductee in the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame, and the state of Texas declared February 23 as “Bobbie Nelson Day.”
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David Ritz
David Ritz is a renowned writer and author who has worked with everyone from Ray Charles to Willie Nelson to Aretha Franklin. He’s written and cowritten sixty-five books, fifteen of which have been bestsellers, and is also a grammy award-nominated song writer.
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