Willie Nelson Statue — Austin, Texas

A bronze statue of Willie Nelson — guitar in hand, braids intact, bandana in place — stands outside the ACL Live at the Moody Center on the street officially designated Willie Nelson Boulevard in downtown Austin. The statue, unveiled in 2012 and sculpted by Clete Shields, captures Nelson in the relaxed, unhurried pose that characterises his public persona: a man who has been exactly who he is for his entire adult life without apology or revision. Austin renamed the stretch of West Second Street running past the venue in his honour, placing the statue at the corner of his own boulevard.

Nelson's relationship with Austin is foundational to both his identity and the city's. He moved back to Texas from Nashville in 1970 after his house burned down and his commercial prospects seemed exhausted, settled in Austin, and found a community — the same community that gathered at Threadgill's, at the Armadillo World Headquarters, and at Antone's — that understood what he was doing. The 1973 Fourth of July Picnic in Dripping Springs, which he organised, became the annual Willie Nelson Fourth of July Picnic, one of the most beloved country music traditions in Texas.

The statue on Willie Nelson Boulevard is visited constantly — fans photograph themselves with it at all hours, and it serves as a natural gathering point during the Austin City Limits Festival and SXSW. Nelson himself, now in his nineties, continues to perform, record, and live on his Luck Ranch west of Austin. The ACL Live venue behind the statue presents year-round concerts and is the home of the Austin City Limits television programme — the longest-running music show in American television history.