Willie Nelson Has a New Album Coming: Here’s When ‘The Border’ Arrives

Willie Nelson has revealed that his upcoming studio album, The Border, will arrive on Friday, May 31, just more than a month after the legendary singer-songwriter turns 91.

Released via Legacy Recordings, The Border will feature 10 newly recorded studio performances, including four new Nelson/Buddy Cannon compositions: “Once Upon a Yesterday,” “What If I’m Out of My Mind,” “Kiss Me When You’re Through,” “How Much Does It Cost” and “Hank’s Guitar,” which was co-written by Cannon and Bobby Tomberlin.

On the title track, Nelson offers up his interpretation of Rodney Crowell’s “The Border,” which was co-written by Crowell and Allen Shamblin as part of Crowell’s 2019 album Texas. The song details the daily life of a border patrol agent with lyrics such as “I come home to Maria in a bulletproof vest/ With the weight of the whole wide world bearing down on my chest.”

As with many of his albums, Nelson is using his latest to highlight some of country music’s talented songwriters, with The Border including Nelson’s versions of songs written by Larry Cordle and Erin Enderlin (“I Wrote This Song for You”), Crowell and Will Jennings (“Many a Long and Lonesome Highway”), Shawn Camp and Monty Holmes (“Made in Texas”) and Mike Reid (“Nobody Knows Me Like You”). The album also includes in-depth listening notes by Mikal Gilmore, as well as photos by Pamela Springsteen.

See the track listing for Nelson’s The Border below:

See the album announcement below: