Willie Nelson’s 8 Children: All About His Sons and Daughters
Willie Nelson is the patriarch of a large, blended family.
The country music legend has five daughters — Lana, 70, Susie, 68, Paula, 54, and Amy, 51, as well as the late Renee Butts — and three sons — Lukas, 35, Micah, 34, and Billy, who died in 1991.
Lana, Susie and Billy were born to Willie and his first wife, Martha Matthews; their marriage lasted from 1952 to 1962. Willie shares daughters Paula and Amy with his third wife, Connie Koepke, whom he was married to for 17 years. The “On the Road Again” singer married Annie D’Angelo in 1991 and together they share sons Lukas and Micah.
Willie also fathered an eighth child, a daughter named Renee, with his friend Mary Haney, but he did not learn of her existence until 2012.
Some of the musician’s kids have followed in his footsteps, namely Paula, Amy, Lukas and Micah. In addition to their own projects, they all appeared on the 2021 album The Willie Nelson Family, and have often hit the road with their dad.
Honestly, right now, playing onstage with my kids is the biggest thrill I can get,” Willie told Texas Monthly in 2012.
In a 2017 Rolling Stone mini-documentary, the Texas-born singer described his current stage crew: “It’s been a family thing with me just making music with whoever was around. And to have your kids up there doing a good job with you, now that’s as good as it gets.”
For Willie’s 90th birthday celebration, filmed in April 2023 and released in December of the same year, Lukas and Micah took to the stage to sing tributes to their father’s musical legacy.
When asked what “kind of a dad” he was, Willie said a lot of people would think he was probably “not a very good one” because of how often he was gone when his kids were growing up. “As they live longer and have families, they’ll realize what it all means and what it’s all about,” he said. His wife, Annie, politely disagreed with Willie’s self-assessment. “That’s his interpretation,” she said. “Ours and how they grew up was, this is a good example of what it means to come here and do what you came here for.” She added, “When he was home, he was home.”
Willie has close relationships with each of his kids, who frequently post photos with one another and with their dad on social media.
“I have a great family,” Willie said on The Big Interview with Dan Rather in 2016. “I have a lot of great kids. They seem to be doing well. I’m proud of them. It doesn’t get better than that.”
Here’s everything to know about Willie Nelson’s eight children
Leave a Reply