When a celebrity’s name starts trending on social media, there’s a question fans have to ask: Is this for a good reason, or a bad one? When that celebrity is elderly, the fear that folks might be talking about them because there’s bad news is heightened. So we are here to tell you, if you’ve seen Willie Nelson trending today, April 29, everything is fine. It’s just his birthday! Happy birthday, Willie!
Today is Willie’s ninety-first birthday, putting him in the ranks of the estimated 2.8 million Americans who have entered their tenth decade of experiencing life on this planet of ours. Last year, the Red Headed Stranger celebrated his ninetieth in high-profile fashion, performing as part of a star-studded tribute concert at the Hollywood Bowl alongside luminaries and pals including Leon Bridges, Snoop Dogg, Kris Kristofferson, Miranda Lambert, Chris Stapleton, George Strait, and Neil Young (among many, many others). That performance was released as a concert film on Paramount+ in December and as a live album on CD, vinyl, and streaming services. If you’ve ever wanted to hear Willie sing “Pancho and Lefty” with George Strait doing the Merle Haggard parts, check it out.
This isn’t the first time in recent days that a beloved and famous Texas nonagenarian has trended online for nonharrowing reasons. Willie is three days younger than the great Carol Burnett, who was born on April 26, 1933, in San Antonio and was similarly celebrated online for her combination of greatness and longevity on her ninety-first, last week. Like Willie, she also remains active despite accumulating more than 33,000 days on earth—she currently costars on Apple TV+’s Palm Royale as nursing home resident Norma Dellacorte (a role for which she spends a great deal of time in bed). It’s a good time to be a 91-year-old Texan.
Finally, should you see Willie’s name continue to trend tomorrow, you needn’t worry. In addition to celebrating his birthday on April 29, Willie also claims April 30 as his date of birth. It’s not just because he likes cake, though. While he was indeed born on April 29, the courthouse in rural Hill County back in 1933 didn’t get around to recording his birth until the following day. The discrepancy has caused some confusion in Willie’s own life. He believed his birthday to be the twenty-ninth until he joined the Air Force, in 1951, at which point the official record told him that it was the thirtieth. He believed that to be true until his cousin Mildred informed him that she was there as a teenager on that day, and he was indeed born on the twenty-ninth. Rather than get worked up over it, Willie just enjoys both days as his birthday, which seems only fair. Everyone who makes it to Willie’s age should get multiple birthdays.
At any rate, Willie’s doing great. He spent the weekend performing at the Stagecoach Festival in the California desert, and he’ll be back onstage in Texas in a few weeks, performing a two-night stand in New Braunfels on May 10 and 11 before spending the rest of the year on the road with Bob Dylan and others as part of the Outlaw Music Festival Tour. Have a great year, Willie.
