Who Are Willie Nelson's Kids?

Having celebrated his 90th birthday in April 2023, Willie Nelson is nothing short of an American legend. The prolific musician has a career spanning more than seven decades, over which he has produced more than 140 albums. One of the biggest names in country music's history, Nelson and his innovative skills were too vast to fit into the conservative Nashville sound that was predominant in the 1950s and 1960s, as Texas Monthly put it in 2020. The native Texan's productive nature has also extended to his personal life.

Over the course of multiple marriages, Nelson has fathered numerous children over the decades — even discovering, late in life, that he'd fathered a daughter he didn't even know about. While Nelson admitted to being a "lousy provider" who spent most of his money in "hotel suites and booze," he always believed in the family institution, according to a 1991 Texas Monthly profile. "In that sense, Willie Nelson was a family man through and through," author Robert Draper wrote.

Despite his tumultuous early days, Nelson has a strong relationship with his children and other family members. Throughout the tougher days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the country icon counted on the love and support of his family as they weathered the crisis together on his ranch in Spicewood, Texas. "We're doing okay," Nelson told People. "We're a very close family." The musician's kids are all adults now with varying sets of skills. Keep reading to learn more about Willie Nelson's children.

While married to Connie Koepke, Willie Nelson met makeup artist Annie Marie D'Angelo on the set of the 1986 film "Stagecoach" in which he starred alongside Johnny Cash, according to People. He fell in love with D'Angelo during that time and divorced Koepke in 1988. He and D'Angelo wed in 1991 and are still together. The couple welcomed their oldest son, Lukas Autry Nelson, in 1988, and youngest, Jacob Micah Nelson, who goes by his middle name, in 1990, according to Country Fancast.

Both Lukas and Micah are artists and musicians like their father. Per Country Fancast, Lukas started writing songs at age 11 and by 13 he was playing guitar with Willie's band. In 2008, he formed the country-rock band Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, which serves as Neil Young's backing band, per the website. "We've learned from each other, and we've gotten so tight. I don't want to stop, and I don't think Neil does either. There's transcendental experiences on stage with Neil," Lukas told Rolling Stone in 2016. 

Micah has played guitar in his big brother's band, though he also has his own projects, including the band Insects vs Robots, according to Rolling Stone. Lukas and Micah have collaborated with their father throughout their careers. A noteworthy collab happened in 2012 with the release of "Heroes," which featured guest appearances by both and included some original songs by Lukas, according to All Music. 

Willie Nelson is no stranger to matrimony — although, to be fair, it's debatable how good he's been at it. That's the conclusion to be drawn from the fact that he's been married four times. His first marriage was to Martha Matthews, which lasted from 1952 until 1962. While that union produced three children, Nelson and his first wife were a volatile combination, with the relationship characterized by violence. In fact, Nelson reportedly was once awakened to discover she'd sewn him into the bedsheets and proceeded to beat the helpless singer with a broom handle, per the Los Angeles Times; however, Matthews later revealed she'd actually tied him up with their daughters' jump ropes.

In 1963, Nelson married Shirley Collie. The couple didn't have any children together; the marriage ended in divorce in 1971 after she discovered a bill from a hospital maternity ward indicating Nelson had fathered a child with another woman. Confronted with the evidence, Nelson had no choice but to fess up. "Couldn't lie," Nelson recalled in the book "Me and Sister Bobbie," as excerpted in Page Six. "Was caught flat-footed."

Later in 1971, Nelson married the mother of that baby, Connie Koepke. The two had another daughter before divorcing in 1988, with Nelson admitting his infidelity continued to be an issue. "I messed up another marriage," he wrote. "My wandering ways were too much for any woman to put up with." Nelson married his fourth and current wife, Annie D'Angelo, in 1991, welcoming two sons. 

The first of three children born during Willie Nelson's marriage to Martha Matthews, Lana Nelson was born on November 11, 1953. According to Texas Monthly, she married George Fowler in a 1976 ceremony held in Austin, Texas. However, in a twist of events, the bride and groom opted to postpone the actual ceremony until after the reception, as Willie — who was traveling from Houston — arrived late due to bad weather. When her dad finally made it, Willie performed "Hands on the Wheel" and walked his daughter down the aisle.

Lana went on to work in the entertainment industry as an actor and costume designer. She was the designer for the 1986 film "Red Headed Stranger," based on the album by the same name and starring her father as the lead character. Her son, Brian Fowler, acted alongside his grandfather as the son of the character's love interest. "Everyone pitched in. If it meant 20 hours of work a day in 110 degrees, they were going to do it — all for Dad," Lana told the magazine.

Dad and daughter remain close, and she's often featured on his social media accounts. In 2015, Lana shared a Father's Day tribute on Willie's website. "My dear father is a sweet, mellow, loving man that makes me light up inside when I look into his eyes," she wrote (via People). "He has been an inspiration and a role model, teaching me the most important lessons of my life."

Susie Nelson is the second child produced by Willie Nelson's decade-long marriage to first wife Martha Matthews, arriving on May 23, 1956. Among her many accomplishments has been writing a book about her relationship with her father, "Heart Worn Memories: A Daughter's Personal Biography of Willie Nelson," which was originally released in 1987. "He has an enormous capacity for being loyal and, as a consequence, people are loyal to him," Susie wrote of her dad in the book. "I think the source of his great and enduring appeal is the fact that he truly believes that in the grand design of the universe, he is no more important, no more unique, no better than any other individual human being on the planet," she added.

Interviewed by the Orlando Sentinel, Susie admitted that she'd gained a certain amount of insight about her father and had come to understand why he'd had such a difficult time remaining married. "It's real hard," she said. "I wouldn't marry him. I love him as my dad, but I wouldn't marry him. That's only because his life is not his own, and that makes you just a little part of his life because his world is so big."

In 2012, Susie got the chance to work with Willie when the daddy-daughter duo co-hosted "Susie's Gospel Hour," their SiriusXM radio show on his Willie's Roadhouse channel.

Born May 12, 1958, William "Billy" Nelson Jr. was the third child resulting from Willie Nelson's first marriage. As he grew older, Billy followed his dad's path by embarking on a career in music, focusing on his love of gospel. In fact, he and his father began work on a gospel album they planned to release together in 1987. However, Billy experienced a series of personal setbacks two years later, including the death of his mother and separating from his wife, Janet Caldwell. He also struggled with alcohol misuse; after four DUI arrests, he underwent treatment in an alcohol rehabilitation center in 1990, per People.

On Christmas morning of 1991, Billy was found dead in his log-cabin home in Tennessee at the age of 33. His death was ruled a suicide. "The only problem he had was with what killed him [alcohol]," Billy's longtime friend, Lou Mullins, told People. "Willie did everything for Billy he could."

Billy's death was addressed in the 2023 Paramount+ docuseries, "Willie Nelson & Family." According to his older sister, Lana Nelson, he had long struggled with depression. "He didn't want to be depressed, he didn't want to be that guy. He tried really hard, he did," she said, as reported by People. Meanwhile, he and his sister, Susie Nelson — just 17 months older — were particularly close, but their relationship eventually became impacted by his struggles. "We did everything together, but he had a lot of issues," Susie said in the docuseries. "They became more and more."

Paula Carlene Nelson's arrival on October 27, 1969 spelled the end of Willie Nelson's first marriage and sparked his second, to her mother, Connie Koepke. As a teen, Paula began experimenting with drugs. "[By 12th grade], I was doing a lot of coke, anything I could get my hands on, really. Adolescent angst," she told The Austin Chronicle of her rebellious teenage years. However, she eventually became the first high school graduate in her family after she ultimately underwent treatment at a rehab center in San Diego and took correspondence courses.

Paula was certainly influenced by her father and wound up building a successful career in country music of her own. After a start singing in karaoke bars, she began performing professionally. She went on to release five albums and has collaborated with her father on several occasions, including a duet of "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" on her father's 2013 cover album, "To All the Girls." Paula, who was dubbed the Country Music Association of Texas' female artist of the year in 2016, revealed on the "One By Willie" podcast that her dad is a big booster of her music. "My dad will text me and say, 'I'm listening to you on your radio. It sounds great. You're sounding great,'" she said (via People). "And that's a huge bonding experience that I wouldn't take anything for."

During their marriage, Willie Nelson and second wife Connie Koepke welcomed a second daughter, Amy Lee Nelson. Born July 6, 1973, Nelson jumped into the family business by embarking on a career in music. She steered clear of country, however, by co-founding the irreverent musical duo Folk Uke alongside Cathy Guthrie, who also has a famous father: folk singer Arlo Guthrie, of "Alice's Restaurant" fame. Blending music and comedy, the pair has been writing, recording and performing since the late 1990s.

In addition to her musical pursuits, she's also a filmmaker. She's earned acclaim for the two-part web series "Love on the Border," which protested the imprisonment of asylum seekers, under brutal conditions, in for-profit detention centers.

She is also co-director of a feature-length documentary, "Lovey: King of the Roadies." Said to be more than a decade in the making, the film's focus is Benjamin Holiday Dorcy III, known by the nickname "Lovey," who served as roadie for her father and several other celebrated musicians until his death in 2017. The film is scheduled for release at some point in 2024.

Willie Nelson was still married to Connie Koepke when he met makeup artist Annie D'Angelo on the set of the 1986 film "Stagecoach," in which he starred alongside fellow country music icon Johnny Cash. Their affair led to his 1988 divorce from Koepke, with he and D'Angelo tying the knot in 1991. Prior to the wedding, the couple welcomed their first child together, Lukas Autry Nelson, born on Christmas Day of 1988.

Lukas has forged a successful music career, both as a solo artist and as leader of his band, Promise of the Real. Since his band's self-titled debut in 2010, Promise of the Real has released numerous albums, and even backed Neil Young on a few albums, as well as on his 2019 tour.

In addition to being a prolific songwriter and producer, Lukas worked closely with Bradley Cooper on the music for his 2018 film "A Star is Born" (that film's co-star, Lady Gaga, later provided vocals on Lukas' band's track "Find Yourself"). Not only did he win a Grammy for his work, but Lukas also appeared onscreen as the guitarist in the band of Cooper's character, rock star Jackson Maine. As Lukas told Screen Daily, Cooper had loosely based his character on Nelson, which came full-circle in the music he wrote. "Since Jackson Maine is a character that is sort of based on me and other influences, I just wrote a bunch of songs that are based upon my own life," he explained.

Jacob Micah Nelson — who goes by his middle name — was born on May 24, 1990, to Willie Nelson and fourth wife Annie D'Angelo. The youngest of Nelson's children, he's also a musician. In addition to playing guitar and singing in brother Lukas Nelson's Promise of the Real, he's also established himself as a solo artist under the moniker the Particle Kid (a nickname his father gifted him when extremely high, attempting to deem him the prodigal son).

While he and his brother have frequently performed with their father, both onstage and in the studio, Micah had admitted that his dad was something of a distant figure to the boys while they were growing up. "He was just never into the whole parenting thing," he told The Spokesman-Review. "He's not a parent. My mother was basically a married, single parent. She was the only parent I really knew."

The two collaborated on the track "Die When I'm High (Halfway to Heaven)," which Lukas wrote after his father uttered that precise phrase. "It's really just a love letter to him. A tribute," Micah said in a press statement, as reported by Pitchfork. "At the same time I realized it's also a sort of 'f*** you' to anyone who ever thought of me as some lost prodigal son who doesn't understand him or respect his legacy just because I've never imitated his style or pandered to his audience."

In 2012, Willie Nelson released his autobiography, "Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die." Among the more eye-popping revelations was his recent discovery that he'd fathered a daughter in his youth, reported the Express. Nelson noted an old friend of his, Mary Haney, with whom he had lost touch, had reconnected after decades and told him she had given birth to a girl named Renee Butts (née Lynda Renee Barley) in January 1953. In addition to finding out he had eight children and not seven, Nelson also discovered he was a great-grandfather. "Renee has a daughter, Noelle, who has a daughter, ­Jordan, who I am happy to now call my great-granddaughter," he wrote.

Nelson was delighted to learn about his new relatives. He also said that his wife, Annie D'Angelo, was also thrilled and welcomed them into the family. "Mary was a sweet lady. In fact, she still is. I'm glad we had a family together and so is my wife. Our only regret is that we didn't find out about all these female relatives for so long. I consider them as much a part of ­Willie Nelson and Family as I do my other children," Nelson said, adding that his daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter had met their newly discovered family members. "We're even talking about spending our first ­Christmas all together. Ain't that something?"

Sadly, Nelson wasn't able to spend much time with his newly discovered daughter; Renee Butts died in August 2017 at age 64.

In 2012, Willie Nelson released his autobiography, "Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die," which included many details of his personal life. Among some of the most eye-popping was the revelation that he had recently discovered he had fathered a daughter back in his youth, according to the Express. Nelson noted an old friend of his, Mary Haney, with whom he had lost touch, had reconnected after decades and told him she had given birth to a girl named Renee, per the report. In addition to finding out he had eight children and not seven, Nelson also discovered he was a great-grandfather. "Renee has a daughter, Noelle, who has a daughter, ­Jordan, who I am happy to now call my great-granddaughter," he wrote.

Nelson was delighted to learn about his new relatives. He also said that his wife, Annie D'Angelo, was also thrilled and welcomed them into the family, according to the Express. "Mary was a sweet lady. In fact, she still is. I'm glad we had a family together and so is my wife. Our only regret is that we didn't find out about all these female relatives for so long. I consider them as much a part of ­Willie Nelson and Family as I do my other children," Nelson said, adding that his daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter have met their newly discovered family members. "We're even talking about spending our first ­Christmas all together. Ain't that something?"