Willie Nelson is about as chill as they come. Realistic and unflappable, he has done and seen it all. He recently reminisced about working for President Donald Trump even though the two men could not be further apart politically presently. Nelson spoke candidly with The Guardian about his buzzy new memoir, The Last Leaf - Reflections on Late-Life Creativity - and My Longest Love Affair. In that conversation, the legendary artist acknowledged his previous excesses ("I smoked too much. I took too many pills.") and his relationship, if you can call it that, with the now-president as well.
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Nelson Worked for Trump Way Back When
Before the MAGA movement was even a glimmer in anyone's eye, Willie Nelson took the stage at one of Donald Trump's properties. "I know Donald Trump pretty good. We go way back. I worked for him for two weeks at his resort in Atlantic City. The money was good. He came out and thanked me for doing it. I shook his hand. We disagree on politics probably 100%, but he likes music."
That doesn't mean that Nelson is on the same page as Trump as far as politics goes. He told the outlet, "I disagree with a lot of the things he's tried to do. Practically everything he's tried to do." That pretty much leaves no room for doubt about where the Red Headed Stranger stands concerning Trumpworld. Willie Nelson always stands by his principles and never compromises or cuts corners.No wonder at 93, he occupies a singular place in the country music genre.
Many of His Pals Are Sadly No Longer Here
Nelson has outlived a lot of the buddies he shared a stage with. He talked about it with an understandable air of melancholy. He said to The Guardian, "Well, you know, I guess I probably am the last leaf on the tree. I'm lucky to be here. I've lost a lot of my good friends along the way. You know, Johnny [Cash], Waylon [Jennings] and Kris [Kristofferson].. I feel fortunate that I'm still here.
He seems to take his own mortality in stride. "Well, you know, everybody's gonna die, so it ain't no big deal how long we got. We live and we die, and I believe we come back again."
