Bobbie Nelson, Willie Nelson’s Sister and His Pianist of Five Decades, Dies at 91
variety.comChris Willman Music WriterBobbie Nelson, Willie Nelson’s sister and a member of his Willie Nelson and Family band for more than 50 years, died Thursday morning at age 91.
She was described as having died “peacefully and surrounded by family,” and no cause of death was given.“There’s just no way to explain how lucky I am to have a good musician in the family,” Willie Nelson told the Austin American-Statesman in 2007. “Whenever I’ve needed a piano player, I’ve had Sister Bobbie right there. … Whenever our band plays, Sister Bobbie is the best musician on the stage.”After five decades of playing together professionally and eight and a half of teaming up at home, Willie and Bobbie played their last gig together at the Whitewater Amphitheater in New Braunfels, Texas on Oct.
9. Willie Nelson fans rarely got a good look at her face on stage, but her voluminously long hair provided assurance that family was present and accounted or on stage and that, whatever other changes the band might go through, there was no separating the siblings.Nelson’s love for his sister was strong enough that he released both albums and books with her, as a duo.
A year and a half ago, the Nelsons released a memoir about their relationship, “Me and Sister Bobbie: True Tales of the Family Band” (co-written by David Ritz), and promoted it in interviews.“My little sister was always on the piano doing great music,” Nelson recalled on the “Today” show in November 2020. “I would sit there on the piano stool beside her and try to figure out what the hell she was doing. … Sister Bobbie is 10 times a better musician than I am,” he said.
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