Covered in bright pink spray paint on Friday (2.23,) the eight-foot bronze statue of Willie Nelson in Austin, Texas, was vandalized over the weekend.
Austin’s Fox affiliate reported reported the incident as local cleanup crews were quick to remove the paint and clean the statue since the vandalization.
Synonymous with Austin since the 1970s, Nelson was been Born in Abbott, Texas, and tried to make a name for himself in Nashville in the 1960s prior to relocating to Austin in 1972, where he embraced the hippie-cowboy culture of the city and its counterculture music venue, the Armadillo World Headquarters, and helped launch the Outlaw Country movement.
In 2010, Austin honored the iconic singer/songwriter by renaming Second Street downtown Willie Nelson Blvd. Willie’s bronze statue was unveiled on April 20, 2012 and has stood outside of the ACL Live venue in downtown Austin for over a decade.
In 2023, Nelson was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame late last year, with Chris Stapleton, Dave Matthews, and fellow inductee Sheryl Crow taking the stage for his induction.
Now 90 years old, Willie remains active on the live circuit and will continue touring throughout this year.
Last week, the legendary artist’s annual Luck Reunion was announced, with Nelson headlining along with performances from Tyler Childers, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Madi Diaz during South By Southwest next month. And earlier this year, Nelson released “That’s What Makes The World Go Around,” a new duet with Charley Crockett,
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Author: Al Denté
Photo: Minette Layne