Dierks Bentley Has One Special Birthday Wish for Willie Nelson
Hulton Archive, Getty Images
Evan Paul is the host of Taste of Country Nights, a syndicated radio show heard on more than 120 country radio stations nationwide, every night from 7PM to midnight. He plays the best new country music and interviews today's top stars, like Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Dan + Shay, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton, Lady A, Morgan Wallen, + more!
It's safe to say that a celebration is in order for an American icon. Willie Nelson is turning 90 years old on Saturday (April 29), and Dierks Bentley has a birthday wish of his own for Nelson's birthday.
Nelson has released more than 70 albums, beginning in the 1950s. He has been in countless movies and television shows, but he's just as well known for his consumption of marijuana.
"It makes me so happy that he is still alive, but also makes me depressed thinking he's 90," Bentley told me in an interview. "What's gonna happen when Willie passes away? The world is gonna shut down."
Dierks then voluntarily went right into the fact that he still has yet to smoke pot with Willie on the bus, and he has to make that happen. He told me:
I don't wanna sing with him, I have sung with him, I have had a chance to be a part of his picnic, it was down in Texas and that was unbelievable. But, as awesome as that was, I just wanna get on the bus and try some of Willie's best!
Dierks went on to say he has to make that happen, because Willie is the greatest of all time. Dierks revealed to me that he recently heard that Willie Nelson was going to do a bluegrass record, and Dierks was going to try to be a part of that, but Willie decided to make a solo record instead.
In 2022, Nelson released an album on the day of his birthday. He's celebrating his 90th birthday with an all-star, two-day birthday concert in California, and he can also look forward to a call from Dolly Parton; his fellow country icon says she intends to make a point of talking to him on his special day.