'He really was a wonderful guy': Willie Nelson's family reflects on losing his son Billy in 1991
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Willie Nelson struggled badly after losing his son Billy on Christmas Day in 1991.
At the age of 33, he ended his life, as revealed in the new Paramount+ documentary series 'Willie Nelson & Family.'
Billy's death affected Nelson's terribly
Nelson’s close ones shared the emotional trauma about how the tragedy unfolded.
“He really was a wonderful guy, but it’s hard to be in Texas when your dad’s Willie Nelson. You can’t get away from it,” remembered Paula, the singer's daughter with third wife Connie Koepke.
“When Billy passed, it was terribly hard on him — on all of us. It was really hard for him because that was his first son.”
Billy’s body was recovered at his log cabin home in Davidson County, Tennessee, and as per authorities he was drunk at the time of his death, reported People.
In the docuseries, Billy’s sister Lana discussed her brother's struggle with depression, mentioning, “He didn’t want to be depressed, he didn’t want to be that guy. He tried really hard, he did.
Nelson reflects on the tough family times
Sister Susie said that she and Billy were just 17 months apart, and were too close (Nelson shared Billy, Lana, and Susie with his first wife Martha).
“We did everything together, but he had a lot of issues. They became more and more,” they said.
Mark Rothbaum, Nelson’s business manager said that Billy took issue with the way his father had been treated, and felt as though he’d “been exploited too often by too many people. Life was hard for him.”
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In the docuseries, Nelson reflected on the anguish of losing his son Billy, expressing, “Those were bad times.” He spoke about the challenges of 1992, which, in addition to the aftermath of Billy’s death, involved troubles with the IRS and a demanding performance schedule.
Nelson’s late sister Bobbie found a positive side to it, saying in the docuseries that she and her brother “grew even closer” after Billy’s death.
“It’s not that we had long talks about our grief — that’s not Willie’s way. We didn’t have to talk about it. We knew,” she said.
MTV Entertainment Studios, 101 Studios, Blackbird Presents Films, and Sight Unseen, are involved in its production and are filmed throughout the country.
