The great B.B King once said to me, when he was 71, “Any day you don’t learn something is a day wasted.” At 92, nobody embodies that profound philosophy better than fellow legend Willie Nelson.

In the first half of 2025 alone Nelson has performed on his “Outlaw Music Festival” tour with Bob Dylan, he has a duet out with Steve Perry, he has an album of Rodney Crowell covers out, Oh What A Beautiful World, and his new THC drink, Willie’s Remedy is one of the top products, top five to be specific, in the booming THC drink business.

I spoke with Nelson about how staying positive keeps him young at heart.

Willie Nelson: We’re in Maui.

Nelson: We’re a few days off and we’ve come over here for a while.

Nelson: (Laughs) We’re having a good time out there.

Nelson: Well, it’s as good as it gets. I can’t ask for anything better than that.

Nelson: That was someone’s idea, they asked me about it, and I said, “Great, let’s do it.”

Nelson: One of the greatest country songs ever written Rodney wrote. It’s called “Till I Gain Control Again,” and he’s a great writer. He doesn’t write bad songs. The other greatest song country wise is George Jones “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” Those are, in my opinion, the two greatest country songs. And Rodney is a great writer.

Nelson: Oh yeah. It’s nice being able to do things with old friends. Like they say, they don’t make old friends.

Nelson: (Laughs) Well, I won’t argue with them.

Nelson: I think that’s right. I’ve written a lot of songs and atthe time I wrote them I liked them all and I guess I still do.

Nelson: Yeah, all of them are usually like that

Nelson: I believe songs, they don't get old. “Stardust” is one of the greatest songs of all time. “Moonlight In Vermont,” “Your Cheating Heart,” all those songs don't get old, they just get better.

Nelson: Well, I can’t smoke anything anymore. My lungs have already said, “Don’t do that.” So, I don’t really do anything now much except a few edibles.

Nelson: I think it’s good, the people like it from what I’ve seen and heard. It’s getting to be pretty popular out there.

Nelson: I think it’s great. I don’t do a lot. My wife does a lot for it. She works hard and talks to a lot of people, and I nod my head a lot and say, “Yes, thank you.”

Nelson: Thinking positive is the best thing you can do. Imagine what you want and then get out of the way.

, which is such a beautiful title. Was it important to you to put that out now to help motivate and make people happy?

Nelson: Yes, I think it’s time we try to make people happy and talk about the good things and be positive.

Baltin: When you think of the things that make you happy and are positive what are a couple of the things that come to mind for you?

Nelson: They need to ask themselves that question, “What is the greatest thing in the world?” And we all have different answers. When it comes down to it you’ll know what to do if you honestly ask for an answer.

Baltin: What are your personal things that make you happy?

Nelson: I enjoy playing music, I enjoy seeing people get together and forget about everything except music. I think there’s a great positive exchange that takes place. We don't care what political affiliation you're with, what color you are, it doesn’t matter if you like music, come on.

Baltin: You have coming up the fortieth Farm Aid. How much fun is something like that in terms of getting to collaborate with great musicians, but also obviously deliver a very important message and support people that you believe in.

Nelson: Those guys (Neil Young and John Mellencamp) have been with me all along and I couldn’t have done it without them. And we’re still doing it 40 years later. I think the small family farmers appreciate what Farm Aid has done and we hope to continue to do it.

Baltin: With Willie's Remedy, you are giving back to the farmers as well. So is it important to you to walk the walk, not just talk the talk? Not only do you do Farm id, but you give back to them year -round through your different programs.

Nelson: I think we all have a reason to be here. We’re all missionaries of one kind or another. We were all sent here to do something, and we know what it is, what it was. And we try to do it, we try to show people the way that we think it should be done and I'm a big believer in treating others the way you want to be treated.