Willie Nelson Celebrates 90 In Style

Thirty-five performers occupied the stage on the first night of Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90, the two-night celebration at L.A.’s Hollywood Bowl of the American music legend who entered his 10th decade on Saturday.

Many of those artists returned for a second evening, though they sang different songs, and were joined by over a dozen newcomers for Sunday’s show.

Each night’s setlist was over 30 songs long, with a good many with duets and trios. Willie himself sang with a plentiful list of partners, ranging from his sons, Lukas and Micah, to Neil Young, George Strait, Snoop Dogg, Booker T. Jones, Sheryl Crow and the weekend’s surprise A-lister, Keith Richards, whose second duet with Willie, the Billy Joe Shaver song “Live Forever,” may have conceptually transcended anything else that took place over the two nights. A close second was a Highwaymen reunion featuring four children of the original quartet — Lukas, Micah, Shooter Jennings and Rosanne Cash, who sang “Highwayman.”

Owen Wilson, Helen Mirren, Ethan Hawke, Jennifer Garner and Woody Harrelson served as hosts for the shows. The incredible setlists pretty much tell the story of what went down. (Variety, L.A. Times)

Saturday – full set list

  • Billy Strings: “Whiskey River,” “Stay All Night”
  • Charley Crockett: “The Party’s Over”
  • Particle Kid (Micah Nelson) with Daniel Lanois: “The Ghost”
  • Edie Brickell with Charlie Sexton: “Remember Me”
  • Lyle Lovett: “Hello Walls”
  • Margo Price and Nathaniel Rateliff: “I Can Get Off on You”
  • Beck: “Hands on the Wheel”
  • Norah Jones with Allison Russell: “Down Yonder,” “Funny How Time Slips Away”
  • Warren Haynes: “Midnight Rider”
  • Rosanne Cash and Kris Kristofferson: “Lovin’ Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again)”
  • Lukas Nelson: “Angels Flying Too Close to the Ground”
  • Leon Bridges and Gary Clark Jr.: “Night Life”
  • Gary Clark Jr.: “Texas Flood”
  • Jack Johnson: “Willie Got Me Stoned and Took All My Money”
  • Tyler Childers and the Food Stamps: “Healing Hands of Time,” “Time of the Preacher”
  • Ziggy Marley: “Still Is Still Moving to Me”
  • Tom Jones: “Opportunity to Cry”
  • Jamey Johnson: “Live Forever”
  • Bob Weir: “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”
  • The Chicks with Keith Sewell: “Bloody Mary Morning”
  • The Lumineers: “A Song for You”
  • Nathaniel Rateliff: “City of New Orleans”
  • Sturgill Simpson: “I’d Have to Be Crazy”
  • Miranda Lambert: “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys”
  • Chris Stapleton: “The Last Thing I Needed the First Thing This Morning,” “Always on My Mind”
  • Neil Young and Stephen Stills with Promise of the Real: “Long May You Run,” “For What It’s Worth”
  • Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Lukas Nelson, Micah Nelson with Promise of the Real: “Are There Any More Real Cowboys?”
  • Willie Nelson and George Strait: “Sing One With Willie,” “Pancho and Lefty”
  • Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg: “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die”
  • Willie Nelson with ensemble: “On the Road Again,” “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”/“I’ll Fly Away,” “Happy Birthday,” “It’s Hard to Be Humble”


Sunday – full set list:

  • Billy Strings: “Whiskey River”
  • Orville Peck: “Cowboys are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other”
  • Charlie Crockett: “Yesterday’s Wine”
  • Allison Russell with Norah Jones: “Seven Spanish Angels”
  • Dwight Yoakam with Benmont Tench: “Me and Paul”
  • The Avett Brothers: Pick Up the Tempo,” “Heaven and Hell”
  • Margo Price with Waylon Payne: “Georgia on a Fast Train”
  • Particle Kid (Micah Nelson) with Daniel Lanois: “Die When I’m High (Halfway to Heaven)”
  • Rodney Crowell with Emmylou Harris: “It Ain’t Over Yet,” “‘Til I Gain Control Again”
  • Rosanne Cash with The McCrary Sisters: “Pancho and Lefty”
  • Warren Haynes: “Night Life”
  • Tom Jones: “Across the Borderline”
  • Beck: “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”
  • Bob Weir: “Stay a Little Longer” (Introed by Woody Harrelson)
  • Shooter Jennings and Lukas Nelson: “Good Hearted Woman”
  • The Lumineers: “Pretty Paper”
  • Kris Kristofferson with Norah Jones: “Help Me Make It Through the Night”
  • Nathaniel Rateliff: “A Song for You”
  • Sheryl Crow: “Crazy”
  • Dave Matthews: “Funny How Time Slips Away”
  • Daniel Lanois with Emmylou Harris: “The Maker”
  • Jamey Johnson with Booker T, Jones and Warren Haynes: “Georgia on My Mind”
  • Lukas Nelson, Micah Nelson, Shooter Jennings and Rosanne Cash: “Highwayman”
  • Willie Nelson with Booker T. Jones: “Stardust”
  • Willie Nelson with Sheryl Crow: “Far Away Places”
  • Willie Nelson with Lily Meola: “Will You Remember Mine?”
  • Willie Nelson with Buddy Cannon: “Something You Get Through”
  • Willie Nelson with Billy Strings: “California Sober”
  • Willie Nelson with Keith Richards: “We Had It All,” “Live Forever”
  • Willie Nelson with ensemble: “On the Road Again,” “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”/“I’ll Fly Away,” “Happy Birthday,”