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‘Austin City Limits’ Announces Second Half Of 50th Anniversary Season Lineup Including Willie Nelson, Sturgill Simpson & More
Closing the landmark season with a star-studded lineup.
Today, Austin City Limits announced the second half of performers for their special 50th Anniversary season, which includes Willie Nelson & Family, Chris Stapleton (which was previously announced), Norah Jones, The Avett Brothers and Sturgill Simpson presents Johnny Blue Skies; first-timers include Carín León, Mickey Guyton and Hurray for the Riff Raff.
The first group included Kacey Musgraves, Juanes, Gary Clark Jr., Brittany Howard, Nickel Creek, Black Pumas, Maggie Rogers and The War And Treaty.
It's an incredibly talented group, and I think it's perfect to close out this important season with the reutrn of the man who started it all in Willie Nelson:
We're thrilled to announce the second half of ACL's 50th Anniversary season, with all new episodes airing in Jan 2025, featuring: @NorahJones, @WillieNelson, @ChrisStapleton, @TheAvettBros, @johhnyblueskies, @carinleonofi, @MickeyGuyton, and @HFTRR. More: https://t.co/c3w0WHysmH pic.twitter.com/Ej1ya8R29j
— Austin City Limits (@acltv) December 12, 2024
Of course, back on October 17th, 1974, Willie Nelson helped launch the program, headlining the very first episode. The PBS station KLRN in San Antonio and Austin, Texas, produced the pilot episode of the incredible, long-standing variety show and music program, and the rest is history.
There have been so many legendary performances on ACL over the years, and it’s one of the few musical variety shows left that brings in such a wide variety of high-quality artists every season, and allows them to display their unique and impressive talents to the world.
It’s such a well-done, really amazing program, and there’s a reason it’s been running for 50 seasons now when so many other similar shows have ultimately failed. ACL airs weekly on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings) and full episodes are made available to stream online at immediately following the initial broadcast.
In terms of Willie's performance specifically, his episode will be an hourlong show to officially close out Season 50. For this special ACL Presents, a Texas-sized performance with Willie & Family was recorded outdoors at Austin’s Long Center, with the actual Austin skyline as the backdrop.
The episodes will begin airing in January 2025, with Norah Jones nd Hurray for the Riff Raff's being the first one broadcast on Saturday, January 11th at 7pm CT/8pm ET. ACL airs weekly on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings) and full episodes are made available to stream online at pbs.org/austincitylimits immediately following the initial broadcast.
And if you've never seen it before, Willie's very first episode was filmed in Studio 6A at the University of Texas, and it’s jam packed with tons of great songs from earlier in his career that he doesn’t typically play as much anymore. I mean, he doesn’t even have the braids yet… this is vintage Willie at his best.
He kicks off his set with “Whiskey River,” plays one of my personal favorite’s, “Funny How Time Slips Away” around the 18:50 mark, as well as “Crazy”, “Good Hearted Woman” and plenty of others. You even see the intro board at the beginning before the show goes live, too, which is pretty cool.
You can watch the full episode below, and I highly recommend it. This is Willie at his absolute best, during the height of the country outlaw movement and it absolutely shows why he became the country icon that he did:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ-z1b623Qw&t=1s
Season 50 Broadcast Schedule (Second Half):
January 11 Norah Jones | Hurray for the Riff Raff
January 18 The Avett Brothers
January 25 Mickey Guyton | Carín León
February 1 Chris Stapleton
February 8 Sturgill Simpson Presents Johnny Blue Skies
February 15 ACL Presents: Willie Nelson & Family
April 4 Austin City Limits Celebrates 50 Years
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