Willie Nelson and His Wife 1984 Waldorf Astoria Hotel New York City
Willie Nelson 1984 Waldorf Astoria Hotel New York City
Willie Nelson has never been known for doing things the conventional way, including in love. Yet at 93, the country legend has now spent four decades with the same woman, Annie D’Angelo, something he says his younger self could never have imagined. His new book is dedicated to her.
In short
- Willie Nelson and Annie D’Angelo met in 1986 on the set of the TV movie Stagecoach, where she was working as a makeup artist.
- They married in 1991 and have two sons, Lukas and Micah, both musicians.
- His new book, The Last Leaf, released on November 10, is dedicated to Annie, whom he calls his “best friend for four decades.”
A meeting on a movie set
Their story began in 1986, on the set of the TV movie Stagecoach. Annie D’Angelo, a makeup artist who had worked on films such as Bachelor Party, was in charge of the singer’s look. The two bonded over his famous braids, which she agreed he should not have to cut for the role.
They married on September 16, 1991, in Nashville. Their sons, Lukas, born in 1988, and Micah, born in 1990, both followed their father into music.
“Marrying Annie wasn’t complicated at all”
Nelson, who had been married three times before, has never hidden that his love life was eventful. “When it came to romance, I had a gift for complicating things,” he wrote in his 2020 memoir. “But marrying Annie wasn’t complicated at all.”
He also admitted that “winning her over wasn’t easy.” In a 2023 interview, he summed up their relationship with his usual humor: “I call her my pet rattler.”
A book about late-life creativity and love
His new book, The Last Leaf: Reflections on Late-Life Creativity and My Longest Love Affair, was released on November 10. According to the country music site Whiskey Riff, it is dedicated to Annie, his “best friend for four decades,” and revisits their first meeting on the set of Stagecoach, as well as how she helped him through COVID.
“The backbone of this book is a love story,” Nelson said when announcing it. “In a great life, like a great book, the last chapter is the best chapter.”
A legend who never slowed down
Born in Texas in April 1933, Nelson has spent more than six decades writing and recording, from Crazy, made famous by Patsy Cline, to On the Road Again and his version of Always on My Mind. Through it all, Annie has been at his side for the last 40 years, on the road and at home.
Forty years, and still going
Promoting the book this week, Nelson reflected that his younger self could never have pictured spending 40 years with one woman. Hollywood has its own long-lasting couples, from Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, still in the Colorado log home they built in the 1980s to the Hart to Hart stars, 47 years later.
For a man who wrote some of the most famous songs about restless hearts, the happiest chapter may be the one he is living now.
