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Only in Print: ‘Amazing Grace’ and the Gospel Hymns That Inspired Willie Nelson

Honoree Willie Nelson speaks onstage during the Producers & Engineers Wing 12th annual GRAMMY week event honoring Willie Nelson at Village Studios on Feb. 6, 2019 in L.A., California. (Photo: Matt Winkelmeyer/ Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

Willie Nelson’s love of inspirational songs dates back to his childhood in Abbott, Texas, and “Amazing Grace,” a hymn he first heard in church as a young boy. Nelson and his sister Bobbie were raised by their paternal grandparents, Alfred and Nancy Nelson, who helped instill in Nelson a love for the gospel songs they would sing together in church on Sundays.

The country music icon would return to those comforting hymns throughout his life and record over half a dozen albums of spiritual music. He would also write his inspirational songs along the way.

Nelson first found success as one of Nashville’s fi nest songwriters composing hits such as “Crazy” for Patsy Cline and “Night Life” for Ray Price…


The rest of this article can be found exclusively in the October 24 printed version of The Tablet. You can receive future editions of the paper in  your mailbox at a discounted rate by subscribing here. Thank you for supporting Catholic journalism.