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Willie Surgery Nixes Concerts

Country legend suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome

May 11, 2004 12:00 AM ET
Carpal tunnel syndrome turned out to be the one thing that could pull Willie Nelson off the road. The country music legend will have surgery to correct the painful condition caused by inflammation in the ligaments of the wrist.

Nelson's surgery will keep him from performing for nearly two months and will force the cancellation of ten concerts he had scheduled for May and June. Among the nixed dates was a scheduled appearance at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee next month. Because of his wrist pain, Nelson was unable to complete a gig in Las Vegas over the weekend.

A trio of Texas performances are still on the books for the time being, starting July 1st in Wichita Falls. Nelson also hopes to recover in time to play his annual Fourth of July Picnic at the Fort Worth Stockyards along with Merle Haggard, Ray Price and David Allan Coe. A fall tour with Bob Dylan has also been in the works.

Last week Nelson taped his third annual Angels and Outlaws concert last night at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles. Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Toby Keith, Ben Harper, Merle Haggard, Al Green, Lucinda Williams, Shelby Lynne, Carole King, Kid Rock and Jerry Lee Lewis are among the guests at the show, which will air later this year.

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