Behind the Music

Episode Synopsis

With 100 albums behind him and a career that spans 50 years, you might think Willie Nelson has had a smooth ride to fame and fortune.Behind The Music sets the record straight on the life of a country legend who has endured plenty of professional and personal setbacks along with his successes.Over the years, Willie Nelson has written monster hits for the likes of Patsy Cline and Faron Young, amassed three Grammys, created country music's first multi-platinum album, and performed with everyone from Ray Charles to U2. Yet when Nelson first hit it big in 1975 with his smash album Red Headed Stranger, he was over 40, had been performing for 32 years, and had already churned out over 20 albums. Success did not come quickly for Nelson, whose resume also lists stints as a janitor and Bible and vacuum cleaner salesman. In "Willie Nelson: Behind the Music," Nelson candidly discusses the hurtles that have nearly derailed him, from his years growing up without his parents in Abbott, Texas, to his struggles to find the right record label and his monstrous problems with the IRS that began in 1978. By 1988, the IRS had charged that Nelson owed over $10 million in back taxes. Interviews with Nelson's friends and colleagues plus archival footage round out the hour.