Willie Nelson Joins Dolly Parton in the Record Books—With Some Help From Kacey Musgraves

Willie Nelson is making history once again. The country music legend is now the second artist ever to have hits on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart in each of the last seven decades.

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Dolly Parton is the only other performer to achieve the feat. She is still the only artist to place a song inside the chart’s top 20 in each decade since the ‘60s

Nelson first appeared on the chart in 1962 thanks to his song “Willingly.” He tallied two top 10s in the ’60s, 13 in the ’70s, 24 in the ’80s, and one in the ’90s and 2000s. Out of all of those songs, 21 tracks hit No. 1.

Nelson’s latest entry is “Uncertain, TX,” a Kacey Musgraves track on which Nelson is featured. The song, which appears on Musgraves’ latest LP, Middle of Nowhere, debuted at No. 50 on the chart.

Kacey Musgraves on Her Willie Nelson Collaboration

Ahead of her album’s release, Musgraves opened up to NPR about working with Nelson. She revealed that she wanted him on the track because “he’s like the patriarch of truth in so many ways.”

“That song, ‘Uncertain, TX,’ while it is about a real town in East Texas, I had fun imagining that it’s this place where people can never really actually make up their minds,” she said. “Is it a town full of f**kboys where accountability is optional and you just swipe, swipe, swipe and slide to the next option?”

“The song is an acknowledgement of that very transient modern dating behavior after what I went through. The perfect person to help throw a little bit of shade to that is everybody’s favorite grandpa, Willie Nelson,” Musgraves added. “He might even be a great-great-grandpa, but he’s also a gangster.”

Nelson isn’t the only featured artist on Musgraves’ album. She also teamed up with Miranda Lambert for “Horses and Divorces,” putting an end to their years-long feud.

“It was very full circle in so many ways,” Musgraves said. “We aired out any of the old laundry. We had some laughs and wrote the song in a matter of a few hours.”

The track, Musgraves said, is “a micro representation of what I wish that the world would do sometimes, just f**king sit down and poke fun at each other, have a beer and call it a day.”

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