Willie Nelson Autobiography Will Tell ‘Long Story’ of Highs and Lows

UPDATE: It’s a Long Story: My Life will be released on May 5th via publisher Little, Brown.

From his small-town Texas upbringing during the Great Depression to his status as an American musical icon, Willie Nelson’s life is the stuff of legend. Now, with more than six career decades behind him, the tireless entertainer, acclaimed songwriter and outspoken advocate for the marijuna legalization and animal rights looks back at his remarkable life with his soon-to-be-published memoir, It’s a Long Story: My Life.

Due from Little, Brown and Company on May 5th, just days after his 82nd birthday, the book chronicles Nelson’s youth, in the small farm town of Abbott, Texas (pop. 300), where he left work picking cotton to perform in honky-tonks and dance hall at just 13 years old, and traces his rise to stardom as the writer of now-legendary hits such as “Crazy,” “Night Life,” “Funny How Time Slips Away” and “On the Road Again.”

As one of Nashville’s “Outlaws” in the Sixties and Seventies, Nelson was an outsider who didn’t always fit the profile of a “commercial” writer or performer, so, instead, he helped change the rules, becoming one of the most recognizable country music figures throughout the entire world. It’s a Long Story, penned with David Ritz, the only four-time Gleason Music Book Award winner (named for Rolling Stone co-founder Ralph J. Gleason), promises to delve into some of the most talked-about aspects of Nelson’s life and career, including his legal wrangling with the IRS, the many women in his life, and the stories of his countless famous friends in the entertainment industry.

Nelson, and his legendary guitar, Trigger, will be featured on this weekend’s star-studded season finale of Austin City Limits on PBS. Watch an original Rolling Stone documentary about Trigger here.