Bobbie Nelson, sister of Willie Nelson and member of his band Willie Nelson and Family for over 50 years, died Thursday morning at the age of 91. She was described as having died “peacefully and surrounded by family” and no cause of death was given. .
“You can’t explain how lucky I am to have a good musician in my family,” Willie Nelson told the Austin American-Statesman in 2007. . … Whenever our band plays, Sister Bobby is the best musician on stage.”
After five decades of playing professionally together and eight and a half years together at home, Willie and Bobby played their last show together at the Whitewater Amphitheater in New Braunfels, Texas on October 9th.
Willie Nelson fans rarely got a good look at her face on stage, but her voluminous long hair gave the assurance that the family was present and counted or on stage, and that no matter what other changes occurred in the group, siblings would not separate.
Nelson’s love for his sister was so strong that he released both albums and books with her as a duet. A year and a half ago, the Nelsons released a memoir about their relationship, Me and Sister Bobbie: True Stories of a Family Group (co-authored with David Ritz), and promoted it in interviews.
“My little sister always played the piano and made great music,” Nelson recalled on The Today Show in November 2020. “I sat next to her on the piano stool and tried to figure out what the hell she was doing. … Sister Bobby is 10 times a better musician than me,” he said. When she objected, he added, “I think I’m a slightly better con man.”
Willie and Bobby Nelson courtesy of Schock Ink
The country music superstar often referred to Bobbie as his “little sister” even though she was a couple of years older. When she was 6 and he was 4, their grandparents taught them “Big Spotted Bird” and their musical relationship developed, although it took decades before it occurred to him that Bobby could be brought into his professional life.
In a joint memoir, Willie Nelson recalled how his creative renaissance in the early 1970s coincided with bringing Bobby into his band. Legendary producer Jerry Wexler moved him from a dissatisfying job at another label to Atlantic Records, where he was about to begin recording a series of classic outlaw-era albums that would define his personality. When Wexler broke the shocking news that he could use anyone as studio musicians from now on, “I immediately thought of Bobby. She was the main spark that I lacked.”
At 42, Bobby had never been in a recording studio or flown a plane before, but both changed in a hurry when he convinced her in 1972 to work on the first album he recorded for Atlantic, a gospel album under titled Troublemaker, then Shotgun Willie, and his fame and direction were forever fixed. “The experience with Atlantic Records set me on a new course. Most importantly, it brought me back together with Bobby. When the sessions in New York ended, I made it clear. “Sister,” I said, “you are now a member of the group.”
In 2017, Bobbi released her first and only solo album, Audiobiography, an album of piano instrumentals. But even without going out on her own, she was familiar to her brother’s fans by getting her own tour number, “Down Yonder,” every night, and by the duet projects they did, along with just playing the piano, which was almost the same. recognizable by her brother’s melodies on his signature Trigger guitar.
Bobbie Lee was born during the Great Depression on January 1, 1931, two years and five months before Willie was born on April 30, 1933. Their parents were teenagers in the farming community of Abbott, Texas, but they were raised by their paternal grandparents. with a man they called “Daddy” teaching Willy how to play the guitar and “Mommy” teaching Bobby how to play the piano. Both played Sundays at Abbott Methodist Church, but Bobby’s talent meant she also found favor by playing at other local churches.
“I remember getting my first piano,” she told writer Michael Corcoran in a profile. “I thought, ‘I will never be alone again.
Bobby Nelson Courtesy of Schock Ink
Although the early 70s marked their true rapprochement as mature musicians, Bobby and Willy did briefly work together on a semi-professional level for five years in the late 40s and early 50s. At 16, Bobbie married musician Bud Fletcher, who played in a local honky-tonk band with the siblings’ father, Ira Nelson. Bobby’s husband died in a car accident, and at that time, having three children, she gave up music and moved to Fort Worth to attend secretarial training.
But after going to work for the Hammond Organ Company, she began demonstrating the company’s products as well as working in its music library. Bobbi eventually ended up working as a pianist in restaurants and bars in the Austin area. Meanwhile, her brother found success writing songs like “Crazy” and “Hello Walls” in Nashville but found no satisfaction as a solo artist before he joined her in Texas. A big part of Austin’s attraction to him was that Bobby lived there; almost by accident, he soon became a patron of the growing counterculture there.
Bobbie was described as a devout Christian who, even after half a century of constant touring with her brother, disapproved of his marijuana use, although she cited health problems in her disapproval. Still, she told Corcoran, she and her brother never quarreled.
Recordings that Willie and Bobby have made as a duo include “The Family Bible” from the 1980s and “How Great You Are” from 1996. In 2021, the two of them were joined by Willie’s four children, releasing an album titled Willie Nelson’s Family.
When their double memoir came out in 2020, Willie told People magazine, “She’s my lifelong best friend. I’m glad she’s getting recognition for what she’s done with her life.”
The family said in a statement Thursday: “Her elegance, grace, beauty and talent have made this world a better place. She was the first member of Willy’s band, as his pianist and singer. Our hearts are broken and we will miss her dearly. But we are so lucky to have her in our lives. Please keep her family in your thoughts and give them the privacy they need at this time.”