Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic is coming to Camden. But will Willie be there?
The singer, 91, has missed several Outlaw Music Festival performances this month due to illness. The Picnic is scheduled to happen on the east coast for the first time.
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Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic is set to be staged at the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion next Thursday, and the scheduled lineup is stellar. Along with Nelson, the legends on the bill include Bob Dylan, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, and Mavis Staples.
But will Willie, who released his 75th solo alum The Border in May, actually be there?
That became a question last week when Nelson, 91, did not perform on the opening night of this year’s Outlaw Music Festival. Before a scheduled performance in Alpharetta, Ga., a social media post informed concertgoers that “Willie Nelson is not feeling well, and per doctor’s orders, has been advised to rest for the next four days.”
The post went on to say that “he is expected to make a quick recovery and join the Outlaw Music Festival tour next week.” In Nelson’s stead, his son Lukas Nelson and the Family Band performed, as did all the other scheduled Outlaw performers, including Post and Krauss, Dylan — who has gotten fans’ attention with an entirely revamped set list — and guitarist Celisse.
Willie Nelson’s four-day break was scheduled to end with a show on Wednesday in Virginia Beach, but once again, Nelson did not perform. A new message on his official Instagram read: “Willie Nelson will not be performing at tonight’s show in Virginia Beach. We expect Willie to return to the tour shortly.”
No information about the nature of Nelson’s illness has been released.
The tour is scheduled to play dates in New York state on Friday and Saturday and then the PNC Arts Center in Holmdel, N.J., on Sunday before heading to Massachusetts on July 2.
Then it will arrive in Camden in expanded form, transforming into the 2024 version of the 4th of July Picnic, an event Nelson founded in Dripping Springs, Texas, in 1973, and which has never before been staged on the East Coast.
Staples will be added to the bill, along with country-pop singer Maren Morris and opening act Bowen + Young.
But will Nelson himself will have joined the tour by that point?
On Wednesday, when Nelson’s spokesperson was contacted by The Inquirer, she said: “Willie is expected to perform on the 4th.” That was confirmed on Friday afternoon, when a post on Nelson’s Instagram announced: “Willie Nelson has been cleared by his doctors to go back on the road again. He will resume performing on the Outlaw Tour next week. Willie will not be on this weekend’s dates.”