Willie Nelson Says Younger Self Couldn’t Have Imagined Spending 40 Years with One Woman as He Reflects on Marriage with Wife Annie

NEED TO KNOW

• Willie Nelson and his wife, Annie D’Angelo, met in 1986 and married in 1991

• The country music star, 93, said in a new interview that his younger self couldn’t have imagined spending 40 years with one woman

• Nelson opens up about his marriage and celebrated music career in his new book, The Last Leaf, which was published on Nov. 10

Willie Nelson is reflecting on his decades-long relationship with his wife, Annie D’Angelo.

Speaking about his longevity in a new interview with The Guardian, the 93-year-old country music legend credited D’Angelo’s steadfast support.

“Well, you know, Annie is my best friend,” he said of his wife. “She does everything that I need to have done. She makes sure I do it, or she does it for me. Yeah, for 40 years we’ve been together.”

The couple met in 1986 on the set of Nelson’s TV movie Stagecoach, where D’Angelo, now 70, was working behind the scenes as a makeup artist. They welcomed their son Lukas in December 1988, followed by son Micah in May 1990, before tying the knot in Nashville in September 1991.

Asked if his younger self could have imagined spending 40 years with one woman, the “On the Road Again” singer laughed and said, “No!”

D’Angelo is Nelson’s fourth wife. He was married to Martha Matthews from 1952 to 1962; to Shirley Collie from 1963 to 1971; and to Connie Koepke from 1971 to 1988.

Nelson previously admitted in his 2020 joint memoir Me and Sister Bobby: True Tales of the Family Band that when it came to romantic relationships, he “had a gift for complicating things.”

“But marrying Annie wasn’t complicated at all,” he added. “It’s about the smartest thing I ever did. I can say that because, 34 years after we first met, we’re still together and going strong.”

In a 2020 interview with Parade, Nelson said, “I’m not easy to live with. I’m pretty temperamental, you know. I’ve been used to doing things my own way for so long that I’m not interested in any suggestions … There was friction with my other wives. But it seems like Annie and I did okay with each other. It takes a special person to live with me.”

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Ahead of the couple’s 31st wedding anniversary in 2023, Nelson told PEOPLE that laughter plays a big role in his happy marriage to D’Angelo.

“As they say, laughter’s the best medicine,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed a good joke.”

The 12-time Grammy Award winner also revealed that he affectionately calls his wife his “pet rattler,” as well as his “lover, wife, nurse, doctor, bodyguard.”

Nelson opens up about his marriage — and his celebrated music career — in his new book, The Last Leaf, which was published on Tuesday, Nov. 10. He writes about how D’Angelo kept him grounded when he faced an “almost-certain death” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The backbone of this book is a love story,” Nelson told PEOPLE. “The heroine is my wife, Annie, who kept me alive when I was sure I was gone. COVID nearly got me. I was hurting so bad I wanted out. But Annie wouldn’t let me go. The years I’ve lived since then are because of Annie. And so is this book.”

The Last Leaf is available now wherever books are sold.

Read the original article on People