Willie Nelson Honored with Gershwin Prize at Star-Studded Ceremony

by Julian Spivey
Willie Nelson received the prestigious Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in November during a ceremony at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. The ceremony aired on PBS on Friday, Jan. 15 and featured such legends as Neil Young and Paul Simon, as well as contemporary artists like Alison Krauss, Jamey Johnson, Leon Bridges and Raul Malo performing many of Nelson’s most memorable and best works.
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Nelson holds the honor of becoming the first country music singer-songwriter to be awarded the Gershwin Prize and there couldn’t have been a worthier choice.

The ceremony kicked off with Nelson’s Farm Aid buddy Neil Young performing a rip-roaring “Stay A Little Longer” with Promise of the Real, a rock band led by Nelson’s son, Lukas.
Stunning R&B newcomer Leon Bridges swooned the crowd full of Washington dignitaries with a cover of Nelson’s standard “Funny How Time Slips Away” before The Mavericks lead singer Raul Malo put forth one of the greatest covers of the Nelson written “Crazy” that’s likely ever been heard.

Paul Simon and his wife Edie Brickell performed a terrific cover of Nelson’s “Remember Me,” from his iconic 1975 alum Red Headed Stranger – which Simon told the audience that Brickell had first played for him. Simon would return to the stage later in the ceremony for another fantastic performance of “Man with the Blues” with New Orleans music legend Buckwheat Zydeco on accordion.

Alison Krauss and Jamey Johnson – two of country music’s brightest performers – entertained the crowd with solo performances of “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground” and “Georgia On My Mind,” respectively, before dueting on a special performance of “Seven Spanish Angels,” which Nelson and Ray Charles took to No. 1 on the country music charts in the early ‘80s.

Among the other terrific performances during the 90-minute PBS special were Rosanne Cash’s take on the Townes Van Zandt song “Pancho & Lefty,” which Willie and Merle Haggard recorded in the early ‘80s and took to No. 1 on the charts, Mexican hit-maker Ana Gabriel singing a Spanish language rendition of “I Never Cared for You” and Young and Promise of the Real returning to the stage for a low-key performance of the Nelson regular “Whiskey River.”
Nelson then took the stage to thank the Library of Congress and the audience by saying the Gershwin Prize was one of the greatest moments of his career and 82-year long life.

The special ended with Nelson performing a few tunes of his own beginning with “Night Life,” an early hit he wrote for late friend Ray Price, a duet of George and Ira Gershwin’s “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” with Cyndi Lauper (which the two recorded for Nelson’s upcoming tribute to the Gershwins), a fitting performance of “Living in the Promised Land” with his sons Lukas and Micah. Nelson ended the night by inviting all of the night’s performers back onto the stage for an all-star rendition of what’s become likely his most famous song “On the Road Again.”

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