Willie Nelson Celebrates Two Different Birthdays Each Year — Here's When and Why

Fans have plenty of reasons to toast Willie Nelson on whichever day they please, but there's actually two days a year that he accepts birthday wishes!

The music legend, who was officially born on April 29, 1933, doesn't limit himself to just one birthday a year. So for fans excited to celebrate his 91st birthday this week and unsure of which day to do so, they can thank both timing and the apparent inner-workings of a county courthouse in 1933.

As Nelson explained on his SiriusXM radio show in 2018, he celebrates his birthday on both April 29 and April 30, thanks to how his birth was registered back in 1933 in Abbott, Texas.

"I was born before midnight on the 29th, but it didn't get registered in the county courthouse until the next day, the 30th," Nelson said at the time.

"So it went out officially as the 30th. I just do both days."

According to Texas Monthly, which cited Nelson's daughter Lana, the musician celebrated his birthday on April 29 until he joined the Air Force at age 18. At that point, he reportedly obtained a copy of his birth certificate and shifted the celebration to April 30.

The outlet notes that, years later, Nelson's cousin Mildred informed him that he was indeed born on April 29 and that she was present for his birth (when she was 13 at the time).

So while one day is technically Nelson's actual birthday, fans get an extra day to send their wishes before they become belated.

While Nelson is marking a milestone 91 years on earth this week, last year's 90th celebration was one to remember.

In 2023, several of Nelson's closest pals attended Blackbird Presents' Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90, at the Hollywood Bowl — a celebration of the country star's nine decades of life. Among those in attendance were Kris Kristofferson, Sheryl Crow, George Strait and Miranda Lambert.

"I never thought I'd get here," Nelson told PEOPLE ahead of the festivities.

"I get a lot of fun out of playing for an audience," he added. "There's a great energy exchange there. It's what keeps me going."

Since his last birthday celebration, Nelson has had quite a busy year — from performing with Kermit the Frog, to appearing on Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter, to just recently teaming up with Orville Peck for their a new rendition of Ned Sublette's 1981 song "Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other." 

Speaking with Rolling Stone about the new song, Peck revealed that Nelson had the idea of covering the song after being inspired by the rise in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and legislation throughout the United States.

"As an artist who has sometimes felt excluded from the country music industry, once Willie Nelson wants to work with you, there’s really nothing the country world can say after that," Peck said.