Beloved member of Family Band, Bobbie Nelson has died on Thursday, March 10, 2022, at the age of 91. Two years older than Willie Nelson, founder of Family Band, Bobbie Nelson worked on the piano with Willie Nelson for more than 80 years, from their early youth growing up in Abbot, Texas, to their last show together New Braunfels-October 9.

Bobbie married musician Bud Fletcher when she was 16. However in 1955, Nelson and Fletcher got a divorce, several years before Fletcher died in a car accident. Ten years later, Bobbie moved to Nashville to perform for several restaurants when she received a call from none other than her brother in 1973 to perform with him for Atlantic Records. These sessions produced a number of albums including Shotgun, Willie Phases and Stages and The Troublemaker-to which Nelson was credited for being the “lynchpin” of recording sessions, according to consequencesound. She helped Willie Nelson during his writing block right before publishing his smash hit album, Shotgun Willie. 

Together, Willie and Bobbie Nelson released several albums, including How Great Thou Art in 1996, Hill Country Christmas in 1997, and December Day in 2014. With her nephews Lukas and Micah, and her nieces Paula and Amy, the gospel album The Willie Nelson Family was created in last November. The Willie Nelson Family, contains a rendition of their hit classic “All Things Must Pass”. Bobby also released her solo debut album titled Audiobiography in 2008, which included two songs from Willie Nelson himself.

Although her family is heartbroken by the sudden event, they are also grateful to have had her in their lives.