Willie Nelson — the gentle outlaw of country music with braided silver hair and a soulful voice — has always captivated the world with timeless songs like “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” and “Always on My Mind.”
But behind his calm demeanor lies two devastating secrets that almost ended everything before his legend began.
The first, revealed in 2012: Willie had a daughter he never knew about for over 50 years.
A woman named Renee Butts sent him a letter, claiming he was her father. Skeptical at first, Willie took a DNA test — and it turned out to be true. The result of a brief romance in 1962.
They reunited and grew close… but fate struck a cruel blow. Renee died of cancer in 2017.
Willie later confessed:
“What broke my heart wasn’t the truth… it was the time I lost with her.”
The second secret? Something far darker: Willie once stood on train tracks, ready to end it all.
In the early 60s, broke, heartbroken, and alone, he stood in the rain beside railroad tracks, contemplating suicide.
“I thought about my two little kids sleeping in a rented room… and I stepped back,” he admitted years later.
Two secrets — one about a life he missed, and one about his own life almost lost.
Willie is still here, singing with that familiar twinkle in his eye… but there was a time, not too long ago, when he almost left us forever.