page_title: Bobbie Nelson
section_title: Music career
hierarchical_section_title: Bobbie Nelson / Music career
caption_attribution_description: English: Singer-songwriter Willie Nelson, performing at the 9:30 club in Washington D.C.
context_page_description: Bobbie Lee Nelson is an American pianist and singer, the older sister of Willie Nelson and a member of his band, Willie Nelson and Family. Her grandmother taught her to play keyboards at age five with a pump organ, and after successful appearances at gospel conventions held in Hillsboro, Texas, her grandfather bought her a piano.
  She started singing in school acts and in church with her brother. At age sixteen she married Bud Fletcher, who formed his own band, The Texans. She joined on the piano, while her brother joined on vocals and guitar. The band was disassembled in 1955 after she divorced Bud Fletcher. In 1961, after suffering a breakdown caused by the death of Bud Fletcher, and the custody of her children being given to Fletcher's parents, she moved to Fort Worth, Texas where she worked for the Hammond Organ Company. After recovering her children, she moved to Austin, Texas.
  In 1965 she moved to Nashville, Tennessee after her third marriage failed. She played in restaurants and different venues until she was called by her brother from New York in 1973 for a session.
context_section_description: At age sixteen Nelson met Bud Fletcher and they married. Although Fletcher did not have musical abilities, he formed his own band, Bud Fletcher and the Texans, limiting his participation to directing it. She joined on the piano, while her brother sang and played guitar.  The band was disassembled in 1955 when she divorced Bud Fletcher, who was sick. She lost custody of her sons Randy, Michael, and Freddy for playing in honky-tonks and custody was given to her ex-husband's parents. When Fletcher died in a car accident in 1961, Nelson suffered a breakdown and was admitted to a hospital in Fort Worth. To retrieve custody of their children, she married again and started working in a television repair shop in town. The owner of the store rented a piano to comfort her as she recovered. She began working for the Hammond Organ Company, demonstrating and selling their products. She retrieved the custody of her sons and moved to Austin, Texas. In 1965, after her third marriage failed, she visited Nashville, where her brother was working in his music career. She played in different restaurants and other venues until her brother called her from New York in 1973, where he was recording with Atlantic Records. She joined Willie on piano for the recordings, which eventually included the albums The Troublemaker, Shotgun Willie and Phases and Stages. She joined Willie Nelson's newly formed band, The Family full-time and started touring with him. In 2008, she released her solo debut album, Audiobiography. In 2017,  she was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame.  2 days after induction she was (again) in concert with her brother Willie Nelson @ The Greek Theater in Berkeley, California.  Willie always refers to her as "little sister" even though she is the older of the 2...
caption: (L-R) Willie and Bobbie Nelson performing in concert in 2012
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