Yahoo News Willie Nelson Talks His 31-Year Marriage with Wife Annie D'Angelo: 'My Lover, Nurse, Bodyguard' (Exclusive)
The country legend — who turned 90 on April 29 — opens up about his longstanding marriage and career in this week's issue of PEOPLE
There's only one woman always on Willie Nelson's mind: his wife of 31 years, Annie D'Angelo.
"I call her my pet rattler," the country legend quips in this week's issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday. "She's my lover, my wife, nurse, doctor, bodyguard."
Like in all aspects of Nelson's life, laughter plays a big role in his happy marriage to D'Angelo, 66.
"As they say, laughter's the best medicine," Nelson says. "I've always enjoyed a good joke."
For his 90th birthday on April 29, Nelson celebrated big with a two-day concert extravaganza, Blackbird Presents' Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90, at the Hollywood Bowl. There, he was joined onstage by his famous friends — including fellow Highwayman Kris Kristofferson, Sheryl Crow, George Strait and Miranda Lambert — and his and D'Angelo's two sons Lukas, 34, and Micah, 33. (Nelson is also dad to Lana, 69, Susie, 66, Paula, 53, and Amy, 49, from previous relationships, as well as his late children Renee and Billy.)
"We've got a couple of great kids," Nelson says. "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."
Related:Willie Nelson's Life and Career in Photos
Rather than give them advice, Nelson prefers to be a living lesson for his kids.
"It's better to show them rather than tell them," he says. "If they see your work ethic every day, then they realize, 'Hey, maybe he knows what he's doing.'"
With more than 60 years of touring under his belt, it'd be hard to argue with Nelson otherwise. Born during the Great Depression and raised by his grandparents in Abbott, Texas, Nelson wrote his first song by age 7 and joined his first band at 10.
By 1960 he took his music dreams to Nashville, where he broke through with his debut LP, ... And Then I Wrote, two years later. Though he had written hit songs through the '60s, Nelson grew tired of the Music City scene in the early '70s and moved to Austin, where he helped pioneer outlaw country with albums such as Shotgun Willie and Phases and Stages.
In 1979 he kick-started his acting career in The Electric Horseman, his first of more than 30 feature films. And the next year he released his quintessential hit "On the Road Again," an ode to his nomadic lifestyle that still rings true.
"I quit after every tour, then two days later I'm ready to go back," he says. "Billy Joe Shaver wrote in a song, 'Moving is the closest thing to being free,' and that's the way I look at it. I enjoy riding up and down the highway."
While Nelson still loves to hit the road, he's taken a break from songwriting.
"Roger Miller told me, 'Sometimes the well dries up, and you have to wait and let it fill up again,'" he says. "I believe that."
Luckily Nelson has 73 solo studio albums — plus three with his Highwaymen bandmates Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Kristofferson — to fall back on.
These days the longtime cannabis connoisseur also no longer smokes or drinks. "That's added a few days to my life, I'm sure," Nelson says.
He's feeling the effects of aging — his hearing's "not the best," and he can only do most of his martial arts routines in his "mind" now — but Nelson feels young at heart. "I still have a good time," he says.
As he enters a new decade, retirement is far from his mind — but he's finally slowing his pace.
"There's probably other things I will do and can do, but I'm not going to push myself too hard," says Nelson, who's being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in November after touring through the fall. "I know one day it all ends, but I'm not rushing it."
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