“I Walked Out There And Said ‘Sorry'” — Willie Nelson Recalls Getting Too High To Play A Show & Apologizing To The Crowd

This can't be the only time this happened. About four years ago, doing promotion for his 70th studio album First Rose of Spring , Willie Nelson was interviewed by guest host George Lopez on Jimmy Kimmel Live . They talked about Willie's old friend Merle Haggard and Snoop Dogg, so naturally, some of Willie's old smoking and drinking habits came up. Lopez asked him if it was possible to be too high or drunk, and of course Willie said yes, and he had a great story to back it up. He recalled a time from years back, when he had accidentally smoked too much before a show, and he couldn't even perform. All Willie could do was walk out, apologize to the crowd, and then go back to his bus and roll onto the next city. He went back about a month later for the rescheduled show, and joked with the crowd that he thought he remembered being there before: "Yeah, I have smoked too much before a show, and I don't remember the town, but I do remember that I wasn't able to do a show. I walked out there and said 'Sorry,' and went back to the bus. And I came back about a month later, and said,'  I think I remember being here before.'" Classic... I feel like there's a lot more to the story, and I need to hear it. Still respect to Willie for walking out and apologizing for having to reschedule the show for something like that, even if he clearly left the excited fans wanting more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cQeEOsuCTU

Dolly Parton Says You’re “Automatically High” The Second You Get On Willie Nelson’s Tour Bus

Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton are old friends. And honor of today being 420, I thought this would be a fun little story to look back on. The two country icons arrived in Nashville around the same time, and Dolly says they both started writing for Combine music and became fast friends during their early days in the industry: “Willie and I came to town about the same time. Back in 1964, ’65, ’66, we both were writing for Combine Music…And we used to hang out a lot together, different people. Even Kristofferson back in those days! We all knew each other, and we used to sit around and write different songs.” Willie even featured his longtime friend on his his 2013 duets album To All the Girls…, where the pair sang Dolly's song "From Here to the Moon and Back," because Willie could "play the hell out of the guitar on that particular song." And Dolly added that it was the hardest job she'd ever had, because she found it difficult to keep up with his phrasing: “Singing with him was the hardest job I’ve ever had in my life because we both phrase differently. And you would think though that because we are both so unusual in our style, that we would just really blend. I mean it worked me to death! Now he’d already put his vocal down, and so I was trying to sing to it." She added that she called him to tell let him know she couldn't keep up with him, too: “I called him up and said, 'Willie, you should have sent me a sack of dope if you thought I was gonna keep up with you!’ Anyway, we finally did it. I never did quite catch him, but I think the blend of it worked out really well.” And speaking of drugs, it's pretty common knowledge that Willie loves his marijuana, and actually owns his own cannabis company, Willie's Reserve. Dolly did admit to NME back in 2019 that he always offers her some when they hang out, though, but she never partakes: “Oh I am very aware of Willie’s Reserve, but I do not partake of Willie’s Reserve, no! Oh of course! We laugh about it all the time!" And really, she doesn't need to smoke anything... she just needs to step foot on his tour bus: "All I have to do is get on Willie’s bus and you’re automatically high from the fumes." But the honest to goodness truth is, Dolly has never done drugs, and rarely even drinks alcohol, save for special occasions or when she has to fly: "I never did do drugs or alcohol. I do drink if I’m out on a special dinner and when I fly ‘cuz I don’t like to fly, so I usually have a couple of glasses of wine, but for the most part I’m just not much of a doper or a drinker." I think it's high time (pun very much intended) that we get another collab from two of the all-time greats of country music, but until that day hopefully comes again, how about a young Dolly and Willie doing a medley of his biggest hits on her show back in the 80's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9TBKtkKYOs "From Here to the Moon and Back" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ywsRwMbqMg