Today Willie Nelson unveiled his latest music video, a gentle, moving cover of the Pearl Jam song “Just Breathe.” The song appears on Nelson’s brand-new album Heroes, which was released last month.
The song features Willie’s son Lukas Nelson, who sings and/or performs on 10 of the 14 tracks on Heroes. And he does a fantastic job. Kris Kristofferson backs that up: “I sure was impressed the last time I saw Lukas,” he said during a recent call into Willie’s radio show, Willie’s Roadhouse. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
The song is also the first father-son duet between Willie and Lukas. During that same episode of Willie’s Roadhouse, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder had called into to than them for recording “Just Breathe.” As Lukas explained to Eddie “It’s the first thing I’ve done like that with my dad, so it really took on a whole different meaning for me and him. It’ll be something I’ll have forever with him.”
Watch “Just Breathe”:
In addition to releasing the video today, Willie Nelson appears tonight during the CMT Music Awards, performing what is certain to be a crowd-pleasing moment of the night, a guest-filled rendition of his rousing new song, “Roll Me Up.” The live version tonight will feature Toby Keith, Jamey Johnson, Darius Rucker, and the Zac Brown Band.
See all CMT Music Awards coverage.
– Kurt Wolff, CBS Local
