Willie Nelson is speaking up against the ongoing construction of data centers across the United States. The musician released a statement on social media condemning the “loud, water thieving, light polluting” hubs that are “invading our land.”
Nelson wrote that he hails from the Texas town of Abbott and he still has “home there with farmed land where I can still see stars at night. And now our community, like many others, needs to fight against data centers invading our land.”
“The last thing we need is a loud, water thieving, light polluting, data center anywhere near our town (or any others for that matter),” he continued. “The strength of rural America has never come from big industrial footprints. It comes from generations of people, open spaces, local businesses, and a connection to the land. All of America deserves thoughtful stewardship that doesn’t steal farmland (where our essential shared-food is grown) and small family farmers’ livelihoods, and not data centers that only destroy the environment around them.”
He concluded, “Whoever controls food and water, controls the masses. Let’s not allow our own demise or give up control over necessary resources in the U.S. and especially in Abbott.”
It’s unclear if Nelson is targeting a specific data center near Abbott, which is south of Dallas, although there are numerous announced plans for the Dallas-Forth Worth metro area. In May, a Gallup poll found that seven in 10 Americans oppose constructing data centers for artificial intelligence in their local area, with 48 percent strongly opposed. Only seven percent of people polled were strongly in favor.
Nelson has a long history of speaking up about issues that matter to him. Last year, Nelson showed the video for his 1986 song “Living in the Promiseland” on tour in support of immigrants, and he celebrated the 40th anniversary of Farm Aid last September.
“Family farmers are the heart of this country, and we depend on each other for good food and strong communities,” Nelson said in a statement. “For 40 years, Farm Aid and our partners have stood with farmers, supporting them to stay on their land even when corporate power, bad policies and broken promises make it harder to keep going. This year, we’re proud to bring Farm Aid to Minnesota to celebrate the farmers who sustain us and to fight for a food system that works for all of us. Family farmers aren’t backing down, and neither are we.”
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Nelson will release a new book, The Last Leaf, on Nov. 10 via Penguin Press. It marks Nelson’s first book since 2023’s Energy Follows Thought: The Stories Behind My Songs. As prolific Nelson has remained with music — he’s already released 11 albums in the 2020s — he’s almost kept pace with the pen as The Last Leaf is his sixth book this decade.
The musician’s most recent album, Dream Chaser, arrived in late May, just a month after he turned 93. As usual, Nelson will spend the summer on the road with a lengthy amphitheater tour that culminates Sept. 26 at the latest iteration of Farm Aid in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
