On Sunday (April 30), Willie Nelson and friends closed out his birthday weekend with night two of Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90. On back-to-back nights at Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl, stars ranging from Miranda Lambert and the Chicks to Snoop Dogg and Tom Jones helped Nelson celebrate turning 90. The sequel measured up to the original, in large part because night one's pair of duets between Nelson and George Strait —their own "Sing One With Willie" and all-time classic "Pancho and Lefty"— was countered with two onstage collaborations between Nelson and another ageless wonder, the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards.
"It's good to be here, it's good to be anywhere," Richards, age 79, said upon taking the stage. "Ready to go, Willie?"
The pop culture icons led off with "We Had It All." Waylon Jennings first cut the Donnie Fritts and Troy Seals co-write for his 1973 album Honky Tonk Heroes. The Stones covered it during the sessions for 1978's Some Girls, with that recording being included in 2011 on an expanded reissue. Richards guested on Nelson's studio version for the latter's 2004 album Outlaws and Angels. "We Had It All" was followed by Billy Joe Shaver's "Live Forever": a fitting choice for two of pop culture's elder statespeople.
"Sure, there are some Weekend at Bernie's vibes from ole Keef, but it's extraordinarily charming to hear he and Willie sing the Billy Joe Shaver line 'I'm gonna live forever' in unison," wrote the Los Angeles Times in its show review.
Other weekend highlights include longtime Nelson pal Kris Kristofferson coming out of retirement to sing "Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Do Again)" with Rosanne Cash and "Help Me Make It Through the Night" with Norah Jones.
Others on hand include celebrity emcees Woody Harrelson, Ethan Hawke and Helen Mirren.
