Willie Nelson, 87, shares his secret to a long life: 'You have to take care of yourself'
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Willie Nelson, wellness guru? In 2015 the country music icon launched Willie's Remedy, a line of hemp-infused coffee, tea and tinctures designed to "supplement a legendary life well-lived." Now, just two months shy of his 88th birthday, Nelson is sharing his secret for longevity: staying active.
“If you want to live a long time, you have to take care of yourself,” the country music icon tells the Wall Street Journal in a new profile coinciding with the new release of his album of Frank Sinatra covers, titled That's Life. “You have to pay for the day, every day. As you’ve always heard, if you don’t use it, you lose it. You need to move. So every day, I’ll jog or walk, do some sit ups — just a little something to pay for the day!”
It will come as little surprise, however, that the 87-year-old singer also credits his infamous weed habit for helping him ditch a hard-living lifestyle fueled by heavy drinking and up to three packs of cigarettes a day. Having battled breathing issues and emphysema in recent years, Nelson revealed in 2019 that he'd stopped smoking marijuana, though son Lukas Nelson later told fans that "between vaping, edibles, gummies, drops" and other ways to ingest cannabis, "I think it’s safe to say Willie will never stop enjoying Mary Jane!"
Those health issues haven't slowed down Nelson's musical ambitions, though the pandemic has.
“This is the worst time of my life,” he tells the newspaper. “I have never been this frustrated. I try to think positive, but I feel like I’m in jail — I can’t go here, I can’t go there — and that really pisses me off.”
Related: Willie Nelson recalls his first performance as a five-year-old kid
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