The Story Behind Willie Nelson’s 2012 Ode to Weed With the Help of Kris Kristofferson, Snoop Dogg, and Jamey Johnson

Willie Nelson has always told his share of stories centered around the bud. He’s even teamed up with some of his fellow Highwaymen—Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson—and others along the way to get his messages across. Nelson’s songs about weed follow the bliss of taking a toke or how the green can take a toll on one’s life.

In 1978, the founding fathers of outlaw already had a few collaborations together, incuding their No. 1 “Mamma’s Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.” Jennings and Nelson shared more duets on their first collaborative album, Waylon & Willie, including one track centered around cannabis. In the song, Nelson and Jennings are willing to give up the weed, cocaine, whiskey, pills, and more for the sake of love.

Decades later, Nelson reunited with Merle Haggard for another homage to the herb on their 2015 collaborative album Django & Jimmie—named after Nelson’s favorite guitarist Django Reinhardt, and the “father of country music” Jimmie Rodgers. On ”It’s All Going to Pot,” Nelson sings the first two verses, before Haggard comes in on the third with That cackle-babble-head-in-a-box / Must think I’m dumb as a rock.

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“Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die” 

A few years before his collaboration with Haggard, Nelson also teamed up with a few more smoking buddies for another weed-inspired song on his 2012 album. Before landing on Heroes, Nelson initially wanted to call the album  Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die, but he didn’t let the title go to waste and used it as one of the singles instead.

Produced by Buddy Cannon (Reba McEntire, George Jones) and featuring Nelson’s sons Micah and Lukas, who also co-wrote and wrote several tracks on the album, Heroes went to No. 4 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and broke into the Top 20 of the 200 chart at No. 18. The album also features covers of Pearl Jam‘s “Just Breathe,” Coldplay‘s “The Scientist,” and Tom Waits‘ 1999 song “Come on Up to the House.”

On “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die,” Nelson sings about how he hopes to leave this world on rolled up like a joint and features guest vocals from Kristofferson, Snoop Dogg, and co-writer Jamey Johnson.

Snoop, who first collaborated with Nelson on “My Medicine” from the rapper’s 2008 album Ego Trippin’, recalled one of his most stoned moments was over smokes and a game of dominoes with Nelson that year. “Me and him were playing dominoes one-on-one,” said Snoop. “He whooping my ass, and I’m just getting higher and higher and higher. He just keep passing it to me, and I’m like, ‘This old motherf—er’s outsmoking me.’”

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