Farm-Aid Facts

Willie Nelson helped start Farm Aid in 1985 to raise money for family farmers. In 1991 the government put his own 44-acre Texas ranch up for auction over back taxes. More than 40 farmers, some from South Dakota, came to the courthouse and asked bidders to stay away. A lawyer for a farm group bought the ranch and held it until Willie got it back. At 93, he played Farm Aid again in September.

Willie Nelson bought a Martin guitar sight unseen in 1969 and later named it Trigger. He has played it on stage ever since, and his pick has worn a hole clean through the top. An Austin luthier named Mark Erlewine has kept it playable since 1977, bracing the worn top so it can go back on the road. Willie is 93. On September 26 he closed Farm Aid on the same guitar.