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Bobbie Nelson, Sister of Willie Nelson and Longtime Band Pianist, Dies at 91

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(CelebrityAccess) – Bobbie Nelson, Willie Nelson’s sister and a member of his Willie Nelson and Family band for more than 50 years, died Thursday (March 10). She was 91. Her death was announced via Willie Nelson’s Instagram page. According to the announcement, she died peacefully and was surrounded by family. Her cause of death was not given.

Bobbie was born in 1931 during the Depression to teenage parents, two years later, Willie entered the world. They were raised by their Grandparents in Texas with their “mom” teaching Bobbie piano and “dad” teaching Willie guitar.

At 16, Bobbie was married to a musician, Bud Fletcher, who played in a band in local honky-tonks with the siblings’ father, Ira Nelson. Bobbie’s husband died in a car accident, and with three children at that point, she gave up music and moved to Fort Worth to attend secretarial courses, as reported by Variety.

In 2017, Bobbie released her only solo album, “Audiobiography,” an album of piano instrumentals. As a sibling duo, they released 1980s’s “Family Bible” and 1996’s “How Great Thou Art.” In 2021, the two of them were joined by Willie’s children in releasing an album titled “The Willie Nelson Family.” In 2020, they released their dual memoir titled, “Me and Sister Bobbie.”

After five decades of playing together professionally, the brother/sister duo played their last gig together at the Whitewater Amphitheater in New Braunfels, Texas on October 9, 2021.

 

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A post shared by Willie Nelson (@willienelsonofficial)

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