Willie Nelson announces 153rd album ‘Last Leaf on the Tree’ with cover of Tom Waits’ ‘Last Leaf’

Willie Nelson has announced a new album ‘Last Leaf On The Tree’, which is his 153rd release (counting solo studio albums, live records, and collaborative LPs).

Just a few months after the release of his last studio LP ‘The Borders’, the 91-year-old’s forthcoming LP consists of a selection of covers curated by his son Micah as well as some originals, one of which Micah guests on. It will be released on November 1.

Nelson will cover hits by the likes of Warren Zevon, Nina Simone, Keith Richards, Sunny War, and more, as well as The Flaming Lips‘ ‘Do You Realize??’ and Beck’s ‘Lost Cause’.

The album’s lead single and title track, a cover of Tom Waits’ ‘Last Leaf’, is available to stream. It originally appeared on Waits’ 2011 album ‘Bad As Me’.

Check out Nelson’s version of ‘Last Leaf’ and the tracklist below:

The tracklist for ‘Last Leaf On The Tree’ is:

1. ‘Last Leaf’ (Tom Waits)
2. ‘If It Wasn’t Broken’ (Sunny War)
3. ‘Lost Cause’ (Beck)
4. ‘Come Ye’ (Nine Simone)
5. ‘Keep Me In Your Heart’ (Warren Zevon)
6. ‘Robbed Blind’ (Keith Richards)
7. ‘House Where Nobody Lives’ (Tom Waits)
8. ‘Are You Ready For The Country?’ (Neil Young)
9. ‘Do You Realize??’ (The Flaming Lips)
10. ‘Wheels’ (Micah Nelson)
11. ‘Broken Arrow’ (Neil Young)
12. ‘Color Of Sound’ (Willie Nelson & Micah Nelson)
13. ‘The Ghost’ (Willie Nelson)
14. ‘Lookin’ For Trouble’

Nelson is in the middle of the ‘Outlaw Music Festival Tour’ with Bob Dylan. He unfortunately had to miss the three dates due to an unspecified illness but was later “medically cleared” to resume the tour.

Back in March, Nelson appeared on Beyoncé’s album ‘Cowboy Carter’ as a disc jockey on the fictitious station KNTRY Radio Texas on the track ‘Smoke Hour with Willie Nelson’.

He also teamed up with Orville Peck for a cover of Ned Sublette’s ‘Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond Of Each Other’ in April, a song Nelson had previously recorded in 2006.