Toby Keith and Scotty Emerick co-wrote the fan-favorite song “Weed with Willie” and included it on Keith’s 2003 album I Love This Bar. The track is half funny story and half cautionary tale about the potent herb that Willie Nelson smokes on a regular basis. Keith and Emerick didn’t just pull the lyrics out of thin air, though. They sat on Nelson’s bus and experienced it all firsthand.
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Keith appeared on The Big Interview with Dan Rather to reflect on his life and career. During their conversation, he recalled the smoke session on the Honeysuckle Rose that led him to miss an important party and gave him the inspiration for the song.
[RELATED: Toby Keith Swore to Never Smoke With Willie Nelson Again in “Weed With Willie”]
Toby Keith Recalls Smoking Weed with Willie Nelson
“Weed’s never been my high. I can’t handle my high when I do weed. I’m not very much fun, I’d rather drink,” Toby Keith began. With that out of the way, he began the story that started with him having a couple of days off in Las Vegas.
Willie Nelson was playing the Hacienda in Vegas at eight o’clock. Charles Barkley’s birthday party was at the Rum Jungle at midnight. Keith decided he would go say hello to Nelson, hang out for a while, and have plenty of time to make Barkley’s party. To make things better, he didn’t have any obligations until the following night.
“So I get on stage with Willie, sing a couple songs, shake his hand, hug him, wave at his audience. He goes, ‘Don’t leave yet, I want to talk to you,’” Keith recalled. “I go to his bus and he fires a joint up. I thought, you know what, if I’m gonna smoke weed, it’s gonna be with him. When in Rome,” he added. “I absolutely want to be able to tell my friends, my family, and my people that I smoked a joint with Willie Nelson.”
“It’s like, really chronic. It’s toxic. Industrial strength,” he said of Nelson’s herb. About an hour later, Keith recalled feeling like a zombie, making his way back to his hotel room, and passing out. It didn’t matter if he had time to make it to the birthday party or not. He was in no shape to do anything but sleep.
The Aftermath
“I woke up the next morning and had all these emails and text messages, ‘Where’d you go last night? Barkley was mad. What’d you do?’ and I said, ‘I’ll never smoke weed with Willie again.’ Even though that wasn’t true, I wrote a great song from it,” he said.
Featured Image by Charles Knight/Shutterstock
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