‘Willie Nelson’s 90th Birthday Celebration’ Concert Special To Air In December

Willie Nelson celebrated his 90th birthday on April 29. Some of his friends came together for a two-night celebration in his honor on April 29 and 30 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California. Highlights from those shows will make up a two-hour concert special that will air on CBS.

“It is the sincere privilege of our lives to have produced these shows celebrating our beloved Willie, and to partner with CBS to bring this special to fans around the world,” said Mark Rothbaum and Keith Wortman, creators and executive producers of WILLIE NELSON’S 90^TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION. “Viewers will now have the chance to sing, and laugh, and cry and experience the joy of this celebration like never before.”

Willie Nelson's 90th Birthday Celebration will be hosted by Jennifer Garner, Chelsea Handler, Woody Harrelson, Ethan Hawke, Helen Mirren, and Owen Wilson. The concert special will feature performances by George Strait, Chris Stapleton, Miranda Lambert, Sheryl Crow, Keith Richards, and many more.

Prior to the concert special airing next month, Nelson is also set to release a 2CD+Blu-ray and digital configuration of Long Story Shory: Willie Nelson 90 Live At The Hollywood Bowl, on Friday, December 15. It will include 39 tracks, 3 hours of video performances, and more.

Even at 90, Nelson has been busier. He has released a new book, Energy Follows Thought, and a new collection, Willie Nelson's Greatest Hits. The music icon also recently received a nomination for Best Bluegrass Album for his album, Bluegrass, at the upcoming 66th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 4.

Willie Nelson's 90th Birthday Celebration will air on Sunday, December 17 at 8:30 pm ET on CBS and Paramount +.

Let's be real: Willie Nelson is an American treasure. He's a guy who can go from hanging out in the White House (no matter who is living there at any given moment) one night to a honky tonk the next. He's collaborated with country's biggest stars, as well as rock, hip-hop, jazz and blues icons. He's more tha 70 albums into his solo career, he's just turned 90 and still shows no signs of slowing down. Not only does he still play amazing concerts, he still puts out great records, up to and including his latest couple of albums, I Don't Know A Thing About Love: The Songs Of Harlan Howard and Bluegrass.

How beloved is Willie? It's hard to quantify that. But at his 90th birthday concert celebrations in Los Angeles, he had a pretty much unprecedented guest list. (We say "celebrations" because the party took place over two nights). Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, Neil Young, George Strait, Stephen Stills, Snoop Dogg, Sheryl Crow, Chris Stapleton, Miranda Lambert and Dave Matthews were some of the performers. A few months later, at the age of 90 years young, Willie became one of the few country artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

If you're a younger fan and trying to figure out what the big deal about the guy is, you can start here, with our list of his best songs (in our opinion). One of the fun things about being a Willie fan: he still releases albums and they're almost always good, and sometimes great.