Watch: Waylon Jennings Play His Final Concert at Ryman Auditorium in 2000

“I guess y’all noticed I’m sittin’ on this chair, and that ain’t all old age,” said Waylon Jennings to the crowd at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on January 6, 2000, while sitting on a stool on stage. “I kinda hurt my back and my legs,” Jennings added, “but I’m gettin’ around.” The concert would be Jennings’ final full concert before his death on February 13, 2002, at age 64.

At the time, Jennings’ health issues had taken a visible toll on the outlaw, so he had to sit rather than stand during his performance. By the spring of 2000, Jennings underwent surgery to help unblock arteries in his legs and had his left foot amputated in 2001 due to diabetes.

“Y’all don’t worry about me,” joked Jennings during the second of two nights at the Ryman, January 5 and 6, which were recorded for his final concert film. “I can still kick ass. You’ve just got to bring ’em up here. I don’t want you girls worrying about me either, ’cause once you’ve had a cripple, you never go back.”

Despite his health, Jennings still had an outlaw-driven stamina moving through a lengthy set, backed by the band he said he “always wanted,” which he dubbed the Waymore Blues Band, with wife Jessi Colter, and guests Travis Tritt, Montgomery Gentry, and John Anderson.

Jennings opened the night on “Never Say Die,” one of several he also wrote and recorded during the final years of his life, which would serve as the title of the concert film, The Final Concert, released in 2007. The song also appeared on the 2012 album Goin’ Down Rockin’: The Last Recordings, featuring eight unreleased songs Jennings wrote and recorded with bassist Robby Turner.

Throughout the evening Waylon moved through his hits like “Good Hearted Woman,” “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” “Amanda,” “I’m a Ramblin’ Man,” “I’ve Always Been Crazy,” and some of the newer songs, along with covers including Kris Kristofferson‘s “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” Toy Caldwell’s “Can’t See You,” The Band’s “The Weight,” Elvis Presley hit “Suspicious Minds,” and Three Dog Night‘s “I’ve Never Been to Spain,” among others.

[RELATED: Waylon Jennings Never Liked Having His Name Mentioned in This 1977 Hit]

“This is kinda the way I feel about things,” said Jennings before breaking into another new song, a cover of Tony Joe White’s “Going’ Down Rockin’.” Colter also sang her signature song “I’m Not Lisa,” while Tritt duetted with Jennings on “I’ve Always Been Crazy,” Gentry sang on “I’m a Ramblin’ Man,” and Anderson joined Jennings for “Waymore’s Blues.”

Setlist: Waylon Jennings’ Final Concert at Ryman Auditorium

1. “Never Say Die”
2. “Good Hearted Woman”
3. “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys”
4. “Trouble Man”
5. “Amanda”
6. “A Couple More Years”
7. “Waymore’s Blues” (with John Anderson)
8. “It’s the World’s Gone Crazy (Cotillion)
9. Love’s the Only Chain (with Jessi Colter)”
10. “I’m Not Lisa” (with Jessi Colter)
11. “Storms Never Last” (with Jessi Colter)
12. “Suspicious Minds” (with Jessi Colter)
13. “Closing in on the Fire”
14. “I’m a Ramblin’ Man” (with Montgomery Gentry)
15. “Help Me Make It Through the Night”
16. “Havin’ A Good Time”
17. “Shakin’ the Blues”
18. “Nothing Catches Jesus by Surprise”
19. “Never Been to Spain”
20. “Drift Away”
21. “I’ve Always Been Crazy” (with Travis Tritt)
22. “Goin’ Down Rockin’”
23. “The Weight”
24. “Can’t You See”

Photo: David Redfern/Redferns