How Willie Nelson’s love for Texas led him to give up the Grand Ole Opry

“I left Nashville because you can’t play in Texas on Friday and get back to the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday night. It just don’t work out that way.”

By Leah ScarpelliDecember 8, 2021 9:40 am,

This story originally aired July 11, 2018.

Texas is naturally home for Willie Nelson. But it hasn’t always been where he lived. He used to be a member on the Grand Ole Opry – which required him to live in Nashville for 26 weeks out of the year. It was a great honor, but Nelson was used to playing in Texan beer joints his whole life.

“I left Nashville because you can’t play in Texas on Friday and get back to the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday night,” he says. “It just don’t work out that way.”

The more he toured, the more he thought about just playing in Texas.

“Just leave the bus in Austin – we can go out and play in Waco, come back, and go play in San Antonio and come back” he says. “And I’m leaning towards that – the further we go – because it’s something we could always do. We don’t have to go to Alaska every year.”

Written by Amber Chavez.