Willie Nelson Revealed Marrying His Beloved Wife Of 32 Years Was ‘The Smartest Thing’ He Ever Did

Jul 12, 2023

One can't talk about country music and not mention the pillar that is Willie Nelson. At 90, Nelson is still one of the greatest living legends of music to date. Born in the small farm town of Abbott, Texas, during the Great Depression, Nelson was birthed just before midnight on April 29, 1933. However, the county courthouse didn’t record his birth until the next morning. Therefore, Nelson was never really sure if his actual birthday was on April 29 or April 30, so he has been celebrating them both.

Living with his grandparents his entire childhood, Nelson became interested in music at a tender age while he worked in their cotton fields up until he was 10 years old.

Years later, Nelson started his music career playing the guitar in German and Czech polka bands. After school, he went on to serve in the Air Force and briefly enrolled in college before dropping out shortly after. He went on to teach at Sunday school but was eventually laid off as the school frowned upon him playing music in honky-tonk clubs, Rolling Stone reported.

Since his hoped-for success failed to appear Nelson decided to try his luck in Nashville where he came across songwriter Hank Cochran, who liked Nelson’s music and got him his first publishing contract that paved the way for a career in the country music industry. 

Ever since he had his breakthrough, the success for Nelson came through. Along with the fame and popularity, came his colorful personal life, which was characterized by his multiple decades-long marriages. 

As he battled life challenges along the way including his run-in with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Nelson remained strong. Since 1991, Annie D’Angelo has stood by the country music icon’s side overcoming different life challenges, and since then they were inseparable

Married in 1952 to Martha Matthews, Nelson had three children with her. Their marriage lasted for a decade because it was marked by violence. Reports emerged that Matthews assaulted Nelson several times, one of which was that she sewed the singer up in bedsheets and repeatedly beat him with a broomstick. They had three children named Lana, Susie and Willie "Billy" Hugh Jr. 

A year after his marriage with Matthews ended, Nelson found love in American country music and rockabilly singer Shirley Collie. However, they too divorced in 1971 after Collie found a hospital bill at a Houston hospital that was charged to Nelson and Connie Keopke for the birth of Paula Nelson. Eventually, Nelson married Kepoke in the same year. Their marriage brought another child, Amy Nelson. However, they divorced in 1988.

After laying low for years, he then married D’Angelo in 1991. They have two sons, Lukas Autry and Jacob Micah.

However, the twists and turns did not stop on his last enduring marriage. In 2012, everyone was shocked when Renee Butts came forward and introduced herself as the daughter of Nelson — his child with his friend Mary Haney from decades earlier. 

But despite this, D’Angelo’s love and marriage with Nelson endured, and they are still living together up until now. Nelson met her as a makeup artist back in 1986 in one of the films he starred in, and he has nothing but praise for his wife. 

"When it came to romance, I had a gift for complicating things. But marrying Annie wasn't complicated at all. It's about the smartest thing I ever did. I can say that because, 34 years after we first met, we're still together and going strong," he said of his wife in his memoir “Me and Sister Bobby: True Tales of the Family Band.”

Speaking to People Magazine about his wife, Nelson described her as his "pet rattler” and his “lover, my wife, nurse, doctor, bodyguard."

"We've got a couple of great kids," Nelson further told the magazine. "I am proud of them and all they're doing on their own. It's great to have your kids with you at any time, but if they're on the stage singing with you and they're good, that makes it even better."

His oldest son with D’Angelo, Autry, spoke dearly about the love his parents have for each other. 

“The greatest thing about my mom is she takes great care of my father. Not the greatest thing — there’s many good things — but that is one of my favorite parts of her. How well she takes care of him and how she’s kept him healthy and alive and still doing what he loves for so long. I think he appreciates and respects that,” Lukas told the “One By Willie” podcast.

Nelson admitted to Parade Magazine that he might not be the easiest person to live with, but thanks to D’Angelo, she tends to make things easier for him. 

"I'm not easy to live with. I'm pretty temperamental, you know … There was friction with my other wives. But it seems like Annie and I did okay with each other. It takes a special person to live with me,” he confessed. 

Not only was D’Angelo a great wife, but she was the most amazing nurse during the pandemic when Nelson turned his house into a hospital. Sharing to The New York Times, D’Angelo explained that she was stricter than ever then.

"If I have to be the bad guy to keep him safe, I'll be the bad guy," she said. "A virus doesn't care who you are, what you believe, how famous you are."

Are you a fan of Willie Nelson’s music? What can you say about his relationship with Annie D’Angelo? Aren’t they the sweetest? Let us know, and pass this on to your family, friends and other Willie Nelson fans out there!