BRIARCLIFF, Texas – Country music legend Willie Nelson will be back on tour in September following the cancellation of several shows in August.
"A lot of shows in a row and I’d been stuck on that bus,” Nelson told KSAT’s Paul Venema. "I couldn’t get off that bus so I felt like I was in jail and I wasn’t feeling good so I said ‘I think I’ll go home.’"
That meant heading to his 700-acre Hill Country ranch near San Antonio.
Asked if he had seen a doctor, Nelson chuckled and said, "Went to one yesterday and he said, ‘Don’t make any long-range plans.''
Seriously, he said, the checkup went well and, except for chronic breathing problems that he’s had for decades, he is in good shape.
Nelson turned 86 in April. Always quick with a smile, he laughs when anyone suggests that he slow down.
"When they turn 86, they can tell me anything they want to," he said. "But until they get there, they just ought to cool it."
He said that his long-term plans are simple.
“Keep singin’, keep writin’,” he said. “That’s what keeps me goin’."