Willie Nelson announces his 76th(!) solo album “Last Leaf on the Tree” and sets the release date
Ahead of the upcoming album, the acclaimed singer released the album’s first spotlight track, “Last Leaf,” on Thursday, August 15.
Courtesy of Shock Ink
Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson adds another record to his discography of over 150 albums.
On Thursday, August 15, the legendary country star announced his latest album, Last leaf on the tree, which will be released on November 1st.
The upcoming album will be Nelson’s 76th solo studio album and his 153rd album overall.
But it is also the first time that his son Micah, 34, will produce for Nelson, 91. Micah has performed with his father before and collaborated with him on the family-oriented albums: Willie and the boys (2017) and The Willie Nelson Family (2021).
Nelson released the album’s first spotlight track on Thursday, August 15, performing his rendition of Tom Waits’ “Last Leaf.”
The single was first released in 2011 on Bad like mein collaboration with Rolling Stones legend Keith Richards. But in his latest interpretation of “Last Leaf,” Nelson sings solo, and he also plays Waits’ “House Where Nobody Lives” on The last leaf on the tree.
Related: Willie Nelson ‘not feeling well’ and will miss 2024 Outlaw Music Festival opening show
Courtesy of Shock Ink
Willie Nelson’s album “Last Leaf on the Tree”
He will also sing “If It Wasn’t Broken” by folk singer Sydney Lyndella Ward, aka Sunny War. Ward said in the press release that Nelson’s cover is “the most beautiful and amazing thing that has ever happened to her as a writer and musician.” She added, “I used to play that song on the Venice Beach boardwalk and I never imagined back then that Willie Nelson would ever hear it.” (The album was also recorded in Venice, California, at Micah’s recording studio, the Hen House.)
Guest musicians on the upcoming album include Raphael Lanois on pedal steel guitar, as well as former Doors drummer John Densmore and Magatte Sow on drums.
Nelson wrote two songs for the 13-track album: “The Ghost” and “Color of Sound,” the latter of which he co-wrote with Micah. A third song, “Wheels,” was also written by Micah.
Micah said in the press release that he and his father grappled with the “finality of the 91-year-old’s life over the past few years” in the new album. “There are little side quests,” Micah said, “but that became the common thread – facing death with dignity.”
Related: Willie Nelson celebrates two different birthdays every year – here’s when and why
Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP/Getty
Willie Nelson performs in Raleigh, North Carolina in September 2022
The album will be available digitally, as well as on CD and vinyl LP – including an exclusive version with a limited edition lithograph. All copies can be pre-ordered here.
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The last leaf on the tree will be released on 1 November
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