Willie Nelson Announces New Album 'The Border', Shares Rodney Crowell Cover

Willie Nelson shows no signs of slowing down as one month after celebrating his 91st birthday, the country legend will release his 75th studio album, The border.

Ahead of the LP's May 31 release, Nelson shared the first single and the title track, a cover of Rodney Crowell's 2019 song about a Texas border guard.

“We wrote the song to show sympathy for the real border guards and I still sympathize with them. They're trying to do a job down there. It's not their policy,” Crowell said Rolling rock of the track four years ago. “I think if we wrote this song today it would be more about the atrocities. [But] I'm glad we wrote it when we did. To me it has a more epic quality now.”

Unlike Dolly Parton – who celebrated her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by releasing a rock and roll album – recent inductee Nelson is sticking to his country roots The borderwhich comes just over eight months after the 2023 LP Bluegrass.

The border boasts 10 songs, four of which were co-written by Nelson and longtime collaborator Buddy Cannon. The rest of the new tracks were written by songwriters Nelson admires such as Shawn Camp, Mike Reid and Bobby Tomberlin. The border — which also includes listening notes by Mikal Gilmore and photos of Pamela Springsteen — is available at pre-order now.

The album announcement comes on the same day Nelson is set to host this year's Luck Reunion at his Texas ranch with a lineup that includes Tyler Childers, Old Crow Medicine Show, Madi Diaz, John Oates and the country legend himself.

Later this year, Nelson and Bob Dylan will embark on their epic Outlaw Music festival tour together, with Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, John Mellencamp and Billy Strings along for the ride.

The border Tracklist

1. “The Border”
2. “Once Upon a Time Yesterday”
3. “What if I'm out of my mind”
4. “I Wrote This Song For You”
5. “Kiss me when you're done”
6. “Many great and lonely highways”
7. “Hank's Guitar”
8. “Made In Texas”
9. “No One Knows Me Like You”
10. “How much does it cost”