'How the f**k did I get here?': The day Willie Nelson smoked pot on the White House roof with Jimmy Carter's son
It's been 70 sparkling years for one of the living pillars of country music icons, Willie Nelson. To honor his extraordinary career, an American Outlaw special tribute concert was held in Nashville.
It brought the melodious voices of George Strait, Jimmy Buffett, Chris Stapleton, Dave Matthews, Eric Church, Emmylou Harris, Jack Johnson, Sheryl Crow, Vince Gill, Norah Jones and The Little Willies under one roof.
However, it's not just his deep baritone or eccentric vocals that can bewitch you with an unimaginable charm. His life is sprinkled with fascinating stories to keep you hooked. Nelson was a part of the country supergroup The Highwaymen, along with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson and it is his bond with Kristofferson that has struck a chord with music listeners.
The two country stars have often lit up the stage, picking a steady rhythm guitar and crooning songs from yesteryears, like the magical 'Silver Stallion' where the lyrics go: "I'm gonna chase the sky forever/With the woman and the stallion and the wind". While enough has been told about their bond, very little is known about the time when Nelson was invited to meet the president at the White House and ended up smoking weed on the roof.
No, we're not making that up, it really happened.
A tweet by a fan posted back in 2019 reads: "Willie Nelson visiting President Jimmy Carter at the White House back in 1977. This would become the day that Willie was infamously caught smoking marijuana with Jimmy’s son Chip on the roof of America's Executive Mansion." As a proof, he also has a picture of Nelson's White House invitation.
The longtime marijuana advocate made the confession himself in his memoir 'It’s A Long Story', which released in 2015. Fondly recalling the 1977 incident, he wrote about how then-Presiden Jimmy Carter invited the singer to the White House. Nelson allegedly claims that a "White House insider" took him to see the city views at night on the roof after dinner.
According to a report by Hollywood.com, the unnamed insider offered him a joint, and said, “Getting stoned on the roof of the White House, you can’t help but turn inward… Certain philosophical questions come to mind, like… how the f**k did I get here?”
What's more, he also penned down his weakness and fervor for marijuana. Calling it a loyal drug, he said, it “has never betrayed me. Unlike booze, it had never made me nasty or violent. Unlike cocaine, it never sped me up or fired up my ego.”
Occasionally called out for his love for pot, he even had an awkward meeting with Spanish crooner Julio Iglesias — who was a former lawyer — when they recorded their hit 'To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before'. While he was advised against smoking up, he decided to go against the suggestion and “lit up a fat one” for a “down-home atmosphere” in the studio.
Much later, in a 2017 Vice interview, he was asked, “There's a story you once smoked pot on top of the White House. And I've always wondered: How did you get up on the roof?” Nelson, however, was clever to dodge it with a witty reply. “That short term memory loss makes it hard to remember. I don't exactly remember how I got up there. I did notice that all the streets come at you from every direction when you're up on top of the White House,” and added, “It's like you're at the center of the world.”
‘Willie Nelson: American Outlaw’ aired Sunday, April 12, at 10 pm ET on A&E. It’s also available to live stream on fuboTV, which has a seven-day free trial, and Hulu + Live.
