Shock InkThursday night, 82-year-old Willie Nelson showed the world just how strong he is, performing hits like “On the Road Again” and “Living in the Promised Land” after accepting the prestigious Gershwin Prize from the Library of Congress in the nation’s capitol. But it was only last month he was forced to postpone several dates because of an unspecified health concern. This week, he revealed he had a voluntary operation to improve his lung health.
“It was a stem-cell operation,” he told the Washington Post. “Over the years I’ve smoked a lot of cigarettes, and I’ve had emphysema and pneumonia four or five times, so my lungs were really screwed up, and I had heard that this stem-cell operation would be good for them. So I said, ‘Well I’m gonna try it out.’”
Even though Willie went on to say he’s still experiencing some soreness and he’s a little bit worried that his guitar might irritate his incision, he is indeed back on the road again. Friday night he plays Columbia, South Carolina, before moving on to casinos in Mississippi and Oklahoma on Saturday and Sunday. You can check out his performance last night in Washington when it airs January 15 on PBS.
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