Willie Nelson cancels shows, but still set for Farm Aid 2019
Willie Nelson is getting off the road — but just for this month.
The 86-year-old country legend announced on social media Wednesday night that he had to cancel his tour due to “a breathing problem that I need to have my doctor check out.” He vowed he will “be back.”
Thursday morning, a representative for Nelson clarified matters, telling USA TODAY in a statement that the music legend was only canceling his six remaining dates in August.
“He will be back on the road in September,” Elaine Schock told USA TODAY.
That would keep Nelson on track to appear at Farm Aid at Alpine Valley Music Theatre Sept. 21.
Nelson has not missed any of the nonprofit’s benefit concerts since organizing the first Farm Aid festival with Neil Young and John Mellencamp in 1985.
Assuming he does perform at Farm Aid, it will be the hard-touring Nelson’s third Wisconsin appearance in four months. He headlined Summerfest’s American Family Insurance Amphitheater June 27 as part of the Outlaw Music Festival, and played the Resch Center in Green Bay last week.
He also has shows booked through late November, including appearances with Alison Krauss, more Outlaw Music Festival dates and a Las Vegas residency.
Farm Aid’s arrival at Alpine Valley will be the second time in the festival’s 34-year history that it will be in Wisconsin. Farm Aid was held at Miller Park for the nonprofit organization’s 25th anniversary in 2010.
The lineup for Farm Aid at Alpine includes board members Young, Mellencamp and Dave Matthews, along with Luke Combs, Bonnie Raitt, Brothers Osborne, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Tanya Tucker, Jamey Johnson, Margo Price, Yola, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real and Particle Kid.
Farm Aid is sold out, but resale tickets are available at vividseats.com and seatgeek.com, with prices starting at $118 for lawn access.
The festival is taking place in Wisconsin in part to bring awareness to the dairy farm crisis in the state.
Since 2014, the price farmers receive for their milk and the number of dairy herds in the state have fallen nearly 40%, due to overproduction and failing export markets. The state lost almost 700 dairy farms in 2018, an unprecedented rate of nearly two a day. More than 300 additional dairy farms in Wisconsin have since shut down, including 90 in April alone.
Wisconsin has led the country in farm bankruptcies for three years in a row. Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or plevy@journalsentinel.com. Piet also talks concerts, local music and more on “TAP’d In” with Jordan Lee. Hear it at 8 a.m. Thursdays on WYMS-FM (88.9), or wherever you get your podcasts.