Get ready to go on a wild ride withWillie Nelson.
On Thursday, Paramount+ announced that the country legend’s documentary series, titledWillie Nelson & Family, will premiere in four parts on the streaming service beginning on Dec. 21.
The trailer opens with Nelson, 90, playing the guitar and a voice over saying, “Good music never goes out of fashion. Like the sun, it rises every morning.”
“Like the moon it lights up the night, like the seasons it keeps changing. Mama and daddy Nelson gave Bobbie and me two gifts that saved our lives: love and music,” he said, with his song “On the Road Again” playing in the background.
Willie Nelson.Gary Miller/WireImage
Gary Miller/WireImage
Throughout the trailer, vintage photos of Nelson and hislate sister Bobbieare shown, along with concert clips and footage of Nelson through the years. The trailer also includes snippets of interviews with music icons likeKenny Chesney,Dolly Parton,Brenda Lee, Jeannie Seely and Bill Anderson.
“Willie’s music formed the soundtrack of my youth. His songwriting helped shape me as a storyteller,” Sheridan said in a press release. “Willie is a national treasure and his story will serve as inspiration for all those seeking their own path that leads away from the clouds of compromise. Willie has opened his life to us — warts and all — to serve as a beacon to overcoming failure, realizing dreams, and keeping your compass once the dream is achieved.”
“I never thought I’d get here,” Nelson told PEOPLE ahead of the festivities, which drew an estimated 18,000 fans each night.
Still, in signature Nelson fashion, he waved off the fuss over his milestone birthday: “This ain’t nothing. It’s another day.”
Willie Nelson.Steve Jennings/WireImage
Steve Jennings/WireImage
Though he had written hit songs through the ’60s, Nelson grew tired of the Music City scene in the early ’70s and moved to Austin, where he helped pioneer outlaw country with albums such asShotgun WillieandPhases and Stages.
In 1979 he kickstarted his acting career inThe Electric Horseman,his first of more than 30 feature films. And the next year he released his quintessential hit “On the Road Again,” an ode to his nomadic lifestyle that still rings true.
“I quit after every tour, then two days later I’m ready to go back,” he said. “Billy Joe Shaver wrote in a song, ‘Moving is the closest thing to being free,’ and that’s the way I look at it. I enjoy riding up and down the highway.”
As he enters a new decade, retirement is far from his mind — but he’s finally slowing his pace.
“There’s probably other things I will do and can do, but I’m not going to push myself too hard,” said Nelson, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in November after touring through the fall. “I know one day it all ends, but I’m not rushing it.”
source: people.com
