Willie Nelson keeps living the life he loves at 92. 'I'm not through with it yet'

Willie Nelson's 90th birthday celebration at the Hollywood Bowl could have been mistaken for a retirement party.

But two years later at 92, he's working as much as ever. Not that retirement would look much different. The life he loves is making music with his friends, even after outliving so many dear ones.

Nelson will be on the road again with Bob Dylan when the Outlaw Music Festival resumes for the second leg of its 10th year starting on June 20 in Clarkston, Michigan

Asked if he’d ever like his life to get the feature film treatment that Dylan did last year with “A Complete Unknown, ” Nelson said, “I’ve heard some talk about it. But I'm not through with it yet.”

Nelson spoke to The Associated Press in a phone interview from Hawaii's Oahu.

“Bob's a good friend,” Nelson said. “And I'll be glad to let him headline.”

The tour is one part of a loaded year. It'll lead right up to the 40th anniversary of Farm Aid in September. This spring, Nelson released his 77th studio album. And he's added a new THC tonic, Willie's Remedy+, to his wide world of weed products.

Nelson has always loved singing the songs of his friends as much as if not more than the ones he writes himself. In 1979, he released “Willie Nelson Sings Kristofferson,” a full album of the work of his friend Kris Kristofferson, who died last year.

He has similar love for the songs of his friend Rodney Crowell. Nelson has long performed Crowell's “Til I Gain Control Again,” which he called “one of the best country songs that I think I've ever heard.” Now he's released a whole album of Crowell tunes, “Oh What a Beautiful World.”

“So far he hasn’t written one that I don’t like,” Nelson said.

The album comes on the 50th anniversary of “Red Headed Stranger,” the album that many consider Nelson's masterpiece. A breakthrough for him at age 42, it took him from respected journeyman to beloved superstar.

Nelson said he's already begun work on album number 78, but declines to share its direction.

As Nelson returns to the road, the only surviving member of the classic lineup of his Family band is Mickey Raphael, 73, whose harmonica has duetted for decades with the Willie warble.

Bassist Bee Spears died in 2011. Guitarist and backup singer Jody Payne died in 2013. Drummer Paul English died in 2020. And Nelson's sister Bobbie Nelson, his only sibling and his piano player, died in 2022.

But the band he takes on the road now is just as familial in its own way. It often includes his sons Lukas and Micah. English's brother Billy plays the drums. The son of Payne and singer Sammi Smith, Waylon Payne, plays guitar.

They collectively keep up with Nelson's wants and whims on stage. One thing the live show never includes is a set list. He refuses to use them. Band members — and sound guys, and lighting guys — have to stay on their toes and be ready for anything.

“I’d rather play it off the top of my head, because I can read the crowd pretty good,” Nelson said. “They jump in there.”

The list-less set lately has included classics like “Whiskey River” (always the opener, no guessing to be done there,) and “Bloody Mary Morning” along with newer adoptees like Tom Waits' “Last Leaf,” a song that perfectly expresses Nelson's survivor status.

“I'm the last leaf on the tree,” Nelson sings in the song that leads his 2024 album of the same name. “The autumn took the rest, but it won't take me.”

“My son Micah found that for me,” Nelson said. “I really love the song, and the audience likes it, it’s one of the real good ones.”

He's also been performing songs written by Micah, who records and performs as Particle Kid.

One favorite, “Everything Is B- - - - - -t,” seems to stand in contrast to the gospel standards like “I'll Fly Away” and “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” that he often plays a few minutes later. Willie disagrees.

“It's all gospel,” he says with a laugh.

September will bring the 40th anniversary addition of Farm Aid, the annual festival to support family farmers, which Nelson founded with Neil Young and John Mellencamp, He performs there annually. It was inspired by one-off charity concerts like “Live Aid,” but became an annual institution, rotating each year to a different farm-adjacent city. It's in Minneapolis this year.

Asked his favorite, he said, “They’ve all been good, for different reasons. The first one was great, the last one was great.”

This story was first published June 12, 2025. It was updated on June 18, 2025, to correct that Micah Nelson’s stage name is Particle Kid, not Particle Boy.

FILE - Willie Nelson performs at New York's Radio City Music Hall Thursday night in the first of six sold-out concerts, May 25, 1984. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

FILE - This Nov. 20, 2012 file photo shows country music legend Willie Nelson on NBC's "Today" show in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Willie Nelson performs at Farm Aid 30 in Chicago on Sept. 19, 2015. (Photo by Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Bobbie Nelson performs at the Heartbreaker Banquet on March 19, 2015, in Spicewood, TX. (Photo by Rich Fury/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Willie Nelson, left, and Kris Kristofferson perform on stage at the 56th annual Grammy Awards on Jan. 26, 2014, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Musician Willie Nelson performing ahead of event for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a rally in Houston, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — In the aftermath of a fire inside a Swiss Alpine bar that killed 40 people celebrating the new year, survivors, friends and family members, the region’s top authorities and even Pope Leo have spoken to the public in remarks in French, Italian, German and English, reflecting the tradition of Swiss multilingualism.

Another 119 people were injured in the blaze early Thursday as it ripped through the busy Le Constellation bar at the ski resort of Crans-Montana, authorities said. It was one of the deadliest tragedies in Switzerland’s history.

Investigators said Friday that they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fatal fire when they came too close to the ceiling of the crowded bar.

Here’s a look at what people said in the wake of the disaster:

— “I’m looking everywhere. The body of my son is somewhere,” Laetitia Brodard told reporters Friday in Crans-Montana as she searched for her son, 16-year-old Arthur. “I want to know, where is my child, and be by his side. Wherever that may be, be it in the intensive care unit or the morgue.”

— “We were bringing people out, people were collapsing. We were doing everything we could to save them, we helped as many as we could. We saw people screaming, running,” Marc-Antoine Chavanon, 14, told The Associated Press in Crans-Montana on Friday, recounting how he rushed to the bar to help the injured. “There was one of our friends: She was struggling to get out, she was all burned. You can’t imagine the pain I saw.”

— “It was hard to live through for everyone. Also probably because everyone was asking themselves, ‘Was my child, my cousin, someone from the region at this party?’” Eric Bonvin, general director of the regional hospital in Sion that took in dozens of injured people, told AP on Friday. “This place was very well known as somewhere to celebrate the new year,” Bonvin said. “Also, seeing young people arrive — that’s always traumatic.”

— “I have seen horror, and I don’t know what else would be worse than this,” Gianni Campolo, a Swiss 19-year-old who was in Crans-Montana on vacation and rushed to the bar to help first responders, told France's TF1 television.

—“You will understand that the priority today is truly placed on identification, in order to allow the families to begin their mourning,” Beatrice Pilloud, the Valais region's attorney general, told reporters Friday during a news conference in Sion.

Pope Leo said in a telegram Friday to the bishop of Sion that he " wishes to express his compassion and concern to the relatives of the victims. He prays that the Lord will welcome the deceased into His abode of peace and light, and will sustain the courage of those who suffer in their hearts or in their bodies.”

— “We have numerous accounts of heroic actions, one could say of very strong solidarity in the moment,” Cantonal head of government Mathias Reynard told RTS radio Friday. "In the first minutes it was citizens — and in large part young people — who saved lives with their courage.”

— “Switzerland is a strong country not because it is sheltered from drama, but because it knows how to face them with courage and a spirit of mutual help," Swiss President Guy Parmelin, speaking on his first day in the position that changes hands annually, told reporters Thursday.

People bring flowers near the sealed off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)

A woman holding a stuffed animal, whose daughter is missing, gather with others near the sealed-off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

People light candles near the sealed off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)