ME AND SISTER BOBBIE

The untold story of Willie Nelson and his sister, Bobbie, who have supported each other through personal tragedies and triumphs and always connected through their family's love of music.

Willie Nelson is an icon. His many classic songs like "Crazy," "On the Road Again," and "Always on My Mind" have made him one of the most well-known and beloved country music stars of all time. But Willie himself would be the first to clarify that he didn't make that legendary career all on his own. Since childhood, he and his older sister, Bobbie Nelson, have been inseparable. Willie's fans know Bobbie as a longtime member of her brother's band, and his biggest cheerleader onstage and off - but they don't know her story. Now, for the first time, brother and sister are joining forces on the page in a dual memoir that tells of their extraordinary bond and the joys and sorrows they've faced together.

Abandoned by their parents as toddlers, Willie and Bobbie found their love of music through their grandparents, who raised them in a dusty small town in east Texas. This heartfelt memoir starts there, as Bobbie discovers her passion for the piano at an early age, and Willie's ebullient spirit finds an outlet in song. In alternating chapters, the Nelson siblings weave together the stories of their lives as they experienced them side-by-side - from their hardscrabble childhood to the trials they each faced in adulthood as Willie pursued songwriting and Bobbie faced a series of challenging relationships, her musical career hampered by a conservative society that insisted women shouldn't perform the kind of music she wanted to play. This is the first time Bobbie has shared her full life story, and her voice is humble, earnest, and deeply affecting as she opens up about her personal relationships and life as a mother and a musician with technical skills that even Willie admits surpass his own. Willie's fans, who love his stories as much as his songs, will be thrilled to finally hear from the woman they've always known as Sister Bobbie.

Part family memoir, part rollicking tour of the country music scene, ME AND SISTER BOBBIE is like sitting in on a conversation between a pair of siblings close enough to finish each other's sentences. Willie and Bobbie have supported each other through unthinkable personal tragedies and shared in each other's triumphs. Through dizzying highs and traumatic lows, including abusive relationships, the loss of children, and the heights of their separate and shared musical careers, the Nelsons have always had each other's back. This is a story of sibling devotion, and proof that family always finds a way.

Willie Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as a poet, actor, and activist. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993. He is the author of several books, including ROLL ME UP AND SMOKE ME WHEN I DIE (William Morrow, 2012) the memoir IT'S A LONG STORY (Little, Brown, 2015), and the novel PRETTY PAPER (Blue Rider Press, 2016).
Bobbie Nelson is a pianist, singer, and member of the band Willie Nelson and Family. She released her first solo album, Audiobiography, in 2007.