Austin City Limits has been celebrating its 50th season, and who better to be featured on the latest episode of the acclaimed PBS performance series than the country legend who appeared on the very first show … Willie Nelson.
Videos by American Songwriter
The 91-year-old outlaw country icon and his Family band help ACL mark its milestone anniversary with a special performance premiering Saturday, February 15 at 8 p.m. ET on PBS stations (check local listings). The hourlong show features Nelson and his group delivering a joyful career-spanning set.
Nelson’s appearance on Austin City Limits’ pilot episode was filmed on October 17, 1974, and his latest ACL performance was shot exactly 50 years later, at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin, Texas. The new episode begins with footage of Nelson performing the first song he played on the 1974 show, his classic “Whiskey River,” and then shows him kicking off the 2024 performance with a rendition of the same tune.
Nelson’s Family band features harmonica player Mickey Raphael, who also performed on the ACL pilot episode, and Willie’s son Lukas.
Among the concert’s many highlights are renditions of “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground,” “On the Road Again,” “Always on My Mind,” “Georgia on My Mind,” “Good Hearted Woman,” and “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die.” Nelson also played a medley featuring “Funny How Time Slips Away,” “Crazy,” and “Night Life.”
Similar to the way it begins, the episode ends with footage of Nelson performing “The Party’s Over” in 2024 and then in 1974.
More About the New Episode of Austin City Limits
You can check out preview videos of Nelson’s performances of “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground” and “Always on My Mind” at the Austin City Limits You Tube channel.
After its initial airing on PBS, the episode will be available for streaming online at PBS.org and on the PBS app.
Austin City Limits executive producer Terry Lickona issued a statement regarding Nelson’s latest appearance on the program.
“There would be no Austin City Limits without Willie Nelson, so it was a dream come true for us to celebrate our 50th with Willie with a special show 50 years to the day from when he taped the original pilot episode,” Lickona said. “For me, it was an emotional, magical night—one we’ll never forget.”
For more info about the show, visit ACLTV.com.
About Nelson’s History with Austin City Limits
Nelson has appeared on more episodes of Austin City Limits than any other artist. In 2014, he became one of the first people to be inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame.
Nelson’s Upcoming Performance Plans
Nelson has a bunch of U.S. headlining shows scheduled with his Family band in February and April. Then, on May 13 in Phoenix, Arizona, he’ll kick off the 2025 edition of the Outlaw Music Festival Tour. The trek is mapped out through a September performance in East Troy, Wisconsin.
Bob Dylan will be joining Nelson & Family at all of the Outlaw Music Festival dates. Various other well-known artists will be performing at select shows, including Sheryl Crow, Billy Strings, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Wilco, Lucinda Williams, and The Avett Brothers.
Willie Nelson’s Austin City Limits 2/15/2025 Episode Set List:
“Whiskey River” (1974 pilot)
“Whiskey River”
“Stay All Night”
“Still Is Still Moving”
“Bloody Mary Morning”
Medley: “Funny How Time Slips Away/Crazy/Night Life”
“Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys”
“Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground”
“On the Road Again”
“Always On My Mind”
“Just Outside of Austin” (Lukas Nelson)
“Georgia on My Mind”
“Good Hearted Woman”
“Last Leaf”
“Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die”
“The Party’s Over”
“The Party’s Over” (1974 pilot)
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