Willie Nelson unveils statue of himself on 4/20

[slimvictor]

Country music legend Willie Nelson helped unveil a statue honoring him in downtown Austin by singing his new song "Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die" on Friday, a date long reserved to celebrate marijuana use.

The faint smell of marijuana smoke wafted through a crowd of about 2,000 people as Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell accepted on the privately funded statue as a gift from a private arts group. Organizers said they didn't intentionally choose April 20 for the event, but once they found out, they scheduled the unveiling at 4:20 p.m. as a tongue-in-cheek reference to Nelson's openness about his marijuana use and advocacy for its legalization.

The statute stands in front of the Moody Theater, where the Austin City Limits Studio is now located. Nelson, a 10-time Grammy Award winner who has sold more than 40 million copies of his 150 albums, appeared on the first episode of the public television show in 1974.

cont at
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[ro4eva]

I've never listened to any of his music, ever, nor do I plan to, but every time I read about him or see him on TV being busted for the usual nonsense, I feel I would love to share a joint with him and shoot the shit.

 

[Venrak]

150 albums?!

Holy shit, this guy is a machine.

 

[psychomimetic]

^Yeah Willie is crazy prolific.

I need to go see that statue, I don't like the dude's music much but he's a local symbol here, I would've gone to the unveiling if I had known, sounds funny. Plus, personality counts for a lot and Willie has a ton of that. His 4th of July picnics are always a blast.

For those that don't know, the place the statue was unveiled is right at the beginning of downtown Austin, about 1 block away from city hall. The mayor being there makes it even funnier.