It wasn’t supposed to be a night worth remembering. Willie Nelson, the country music legend who has spent more than seven decades on the road, was driving home along a quiet backroad just outside of Austin, Texas. His old guitar, Trigger, sat in the backseat, as it always does. The rain had been falling steadily, leaving the asphalt slick and the fields glistening with reflections from the moon. At ninety-two, Nelson often spoke about slowing down, but anyone who knows him understands: his heart never rests.
That heart, on this damp Texas night, was about to make headlines for something that had nothing to do with music.
