This article recounts a little-known chapter in the legendary artist’s life.
One winter morning in 1970 , in Nashville, the capital of country music, Willie Nelson woke up in his small, cold, debt-ridden cabin. Outside, snow was falling. Inside, his latest recordings were being rejected. Albums weren’t selling. Radio stations were ignoring him. Younger, better-dressed musicians were being favored.
Willie – the man with the burnt red beard and the hoarse voice like cigarette smoke – began to wonder: “Have I lost my way in this world?”
He was no stranger to failure. He had worked as a salesman, a driver, and a DJ before turning his heart to music. But at that point, music seemed to be closing its doors to him. And for perhaps the first time in his life, Willie Nelson considered giving up music – and becoming a farmer.
“I thought about going back to Texas, raising cattle, growing tobacco… anything that would provide for my children and a living,” he once recounted in a rare interview.
But the miracle is: music did not let him go.
One night, sitting alone in the dark, Willie strummed some old chords on his Trigger guitar – and a new melody came to him. That’s when the song “Yesterday’s Wine” was born. A ballad written for himself, and for old souls lost in the times.
“Yesterday’s Wine” is more than a song. It’s a resurrection. It’s a reminder that true artists aren’t meant to quit – they’re meant to burn bright, even when no one else can see the light.
Just a year later, Willie returned to Texas, leaving Nashville behind – and it was in that solitude that he began to reshape the entire “Outlaw Country” movement, breaking all the limits of traditional music.
From a man who was about to leave music, Willie Nelson rewrote its history.
Sometimes you have to almost give up on something – to know you were made for it.
Willie had that moment – and the world gained a legend for it.
Do you remember a song that helped you get through a time when you felt like giving up?
Share it – because music has always been our salvation.