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Artist
Michael O'Brien, born 27 Jun 1950
Sitter
Willie Nelson, born 30 Apr 1933
Date
1999 (printed 2009)
Type
Photograph
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image: 37.8 x 37.4 cm (14 7/8 x 14 3/4")
Sheet: 50.5 x 40.5 cm (19 7/8 x 15 15/16")
Mat: 71.1 x 55.9 cm (28 x 22")
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Bill and Sally Wittliff
A prolific songwriter and nonstop performer, musician Willie Nelson has managed to remain vital and creative for nearly fifty years. Constantly adapting to new musical tastes and influences as his career has progressed, Nelson has evolved from his roots in straight country music in the 1950s, assimilated rock and roll to create the Outlaw Revolution of the 1970s, and currently maintains his role as the pater familias of American popular music. Nelson even produced a bestselling album of jazz ballads with Stardust (1978). His songwriting credits include "Funny How Time Slips Away," "Hello Walls," and "Crazy." Nelson has been active in the reform of marijuana laws and in Farm Aid, and has also had serious problems with the IRS, which finally seem to have been reconciled. Despite his advocacy of and copious use of marijuana, he is a dedicated long-distance runner and has become an American icon.
