Willie Nelson awarded Gershwin Popular Song Prize

Willie Nelson, the ponytailed composer of such classics as “Crazy” and “On the Road Again,” this week became the first country star to win the Gershwin Popular Song Prize, joining the ranks of such previous winners as Billy Joel, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder.

Mr. Nelson, a top-line performer for more than a half-century, with a life story as colorful as some of his most memorable songs, was honored in an event at the District’s DAR Constitution Hall Wednesday evening that featured performances by such renowned artists and Nelson fans as Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon and Alison Krauss.

With his gray hair hanging in two braids down his sides, and looking slightly out of place without his cowboy hat, the American songwriting legend stepped on to the stage to receive the prize from lawmakers and members of the Library of Congress for his 60 years of contribution to American music.

“The Gershwin award is one of the greatest things that’s happened to me in my life,” Mr. Nelson said to a full audience in DAR Constitution Hall, joking how much that says for someone as old as he is.

His humble jest hinted at a larger truth, however, for in the 82-year-old artist’s career, spanning 60 years and counting, he has produced over 200 albums, been nominated for 40 Grammys (and winning seven) and has been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame (1993) and the Songwriters Hall of Fame (2001).

Mr. Nelson’s speech came after over an hour of musical performances paid tribute to his career in a concert that included a star-studded lineup of performers and brought together a mashup of musicians and audience members. Three women in glittering black dresses swayed and tapped in rhythm as they sang backup to soul singer Leon Bridges, while men with shaggy hair and cowboy boots played behind them and concertgoers cheered and clapped to the beat.

“Only [Mr. Nelson] can bring together Republicans and Democrats,” joked the host, actor and singer Don Johnson.

In the course of the night, Mr. Johnson read a letter from President Jimmy Carter, who congratulated Mr. Nelson on the occasion and said his music “became the soundtrack” of his long marriage to wife Rosalynn.

The Texas-born musician broke ground as the first country singer to be awarded the Gershwin Prize, an award named after the Jazz Age composers George and Ira Gershwin to honor a songwriter who substantially contributed to a genre of music and whose informative music blends culture and entertainment.

Music was woven into Mr. Nelson’s life from an early age. He began writing music and performing at 7, and continued as he traveled around Texas playing for church revivals and dance halls.

“It was the language I grew up with,” Mr. Nelson said in a video clip shown during the event, calling music the “universal language.”

He moved to Nashville in the 1960s, and from his late 20s came the hits “Crazy” (a big hit for country legend Patsy Cline) and “Funny How Time Slips Away.” He continued to write through the decades, and his 1978 platinum album “Stardust” was ranked as one of Rolling Stone’s 500 greatest albums of all time. Throughout his career he worked with numerous artists, and several songs have been written about him, including “A Backstage Pass (To a Willie Nelson Show)” by Johnny Cash.

After being serenaded by various artists, Mr. Nelson stepped on stage to thank everyone for a “wonderful” night. Then he picked up the guitar and moved to the microphone. In the expectant silence, while the musicians took a moment to set up, an audience membered howled, “Willie!”

Mr. Nelson leaned into the mic and said in his offhand way, “Here’s a song I wrote a while back called ’Night Life.’”

Afterward Cyndi Lauper — her hair dyed a vivid pink — joined Mr. Nelson for a duet on the Gershwins’ “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off.” Rousing applause accompanied Mr. Nelson as he ended the night with his signature song, “On the Road Again,” as the night’s performers joined him on stage.

The concert will air nationwide Jan. 15.