Emmylou Harris To Help One By Willie Celebrate Willie Nelson's 93rd Birthday

Official Announcement | Published: Apr 22, 2026 9:58 AM EDT

(MPG) One by Willie, the PRX podcast where each episode, host John Spong talks to one notable Willie Nelson fan about one Willie song they love, announces two special episodes in celebration of Willie Nelson's 93rd birthday on April 29, 2026. The first is with 14-time Grammy-winner and Country Music Hall of Famer Emmylou Harris, which premieres on April 22nd.

The second is a special crossover episode with Rolling Stone's Nashville Now podcast and RS Senior Music Editor Joseph Hudak. The Rolling Stone collaboration, which airs on Willie's birthday, will run via both One by Willie and Nashville Now.

In another of One by Willie's annual, Icon-on-Icon birthday tributes to Willie, Harris talks about a song she sang every night with him when they toured together in the 70s, "Till I Gain Control Again." It was, of course, written by one of her and Willie's all-time favorite songwriters, Rodney Crowell, and it gets Harris thinking about being a young artist watching the deep, almost spiritual connection Willie forms with his fans-plus the way she and Willie had to swim against the Nashville tide to pull country music back to its roots, the day Elvis died, the making of Willie's Teatro album...and the high-wire act of trying to sing harmony with Willie Nelson.

In the Rolling Stone episode, Hudak, host and producer of the Nashville Now podcast, focuses on "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" and the Electric Horseman soundtrack. From a historical perspective, that was Willie's first Hollywood film role, kicking off his movie-star period--the director, Oscar-winner Sydney Pollack, would go on to produce Willie's star vehicles Honeysuckle Rose (1980) and Songwriter (1984). But more personally, Hudak talks about being a little kid and watching that movie over and over with his mother, and how that song always makes him think of her; like everything with Willie, there's always a very real, very important relationship at the heart of the discussion.
The Harris and Hudak episodes are part of the seventh season of One by Willie. Season 7 kicked off in March with recent Country Music Hall of Famer Kenny Chesney who did a deep dive on the classic "That Lucky Old Sun," and also features Booker Prize-winning writer George Saunders, providing a line-by-line, masterclass analysis on "Pancho & Lefty;" acclaimed Americana artist Tami Neilson describing the seeking, spiritual openness of Willie's original gospel song "I Thought About You, Lord;" 10-time Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Jamey Johnson discussing "It Always Will Be" and the true, counterintuitive definition of Outlaw Country; plus The National's Matt Berninger, blues great Taj Mahal, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, comedian Ali Siddiq, Country Music Hall of Famer Bill Anderson, and more.

One by Willie is available free across all major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Overcast. Audiences can also visit onebywillie.com to listen and read transcripts.