Tami Neilson
@tamineilson
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KINGMAKER Out Now! (feat. Willie Nelson) 8 x Winner NZ Music Awards | JUNO Nominee | "Tami Neilson is a fire-breathing belter on her own terms." -ROLLING STONE
New Zealand
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Pinned Tweet
I never thought I’d be typing these words in my lifetime…here is my music video with Willie Nelson 💫🤍🥲
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This is what happens to protestors who are actually oppressed and live in a country where they don’t have freedom…you disappear within minutes.
BREAKING: At least 1,400 anti-war protesters detained by Russian police - monitor
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When you bleach your hair, get extensions, lip-fillers, veneers and implants and your future is definitely paved with tummy tucks and facelifts (and all power if that’s what you want- you do you, Boo!), but… maybe then don’t bully trans people for changing THEIR bodies? 🤔🤔🤔
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Was chatting away with my sweet Texan Uber driver, who asked about NZ. She asked about COVID and I said we reached 100 deaths yesterday. She gasped in shock- “Only 100??” her eyes welled up and she said, “Im sorry, but…my Mama died of COVID” 😥💔 We don’t know how lucky we are.
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Last night’s show at the The Ryman is one I will never forget and am still struggling to process. I will post more when I can get my head around it, but, to give you an idea of the fever dream quality of this night, I will share this pic of a new fan who wanted a photo with me…
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FUN FACT: These twin sister lesbian comedy drag kings that sing country music are one of our most beloved acts in New Zealand and gave me my start by sharing their stages with me when I moved here. They taught me you can build your own empire when you don’t fit the mold. 1/2
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I will never forget this moment as long as live. So much to say, but words are not enough right now. Thank you
@WillieNelson
@BioAnnie2
and
@luckreunion
for giving this girl a day beyond her wildest dreams 🙏🏼♥️🥲
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On a scale of 1-10, how confused do you think Cliff is going to be by this response? 😂
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“Who are you wearing?”
The inequity of the music industry. After an all-male lineup was announced at the Aotearoa Music Awards, I felt compelled to depart from my usual colourful red carpet choices that are a visual creative expression of who I am and create this instead.
#equal
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Please enjoy this 90s clip of my Dad in drag, joyously singing with me and Mom. We performed this song in our daytime shows on the General Jackson in Nashville to predominantly conservative Christian families (with children!) who applauded uproariously. 1/2
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For being so anti-trans, that sure is a whole lotta Mean Girl energy coming from the little boys of country music 🤔
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I will never forget this moment. 3 days have passed and my feet still haven’t touched ground. Singing Patsy on the stage where she sang at the Ryman, with her family in the audience, will go down as one the most joyous and moving experiences of my life. Airing on PBS in the fall!
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“As a senior doctor who has worked through NZ’s pandemic response…I know our Covid 19 response works.
But Key’s piece is riddled with errors at both policy and scientific level. It was careless and cheap.”
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The young girl at the checkout today called me Ma’am. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers during this time of grieving.
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Being a Female Musician is: The airport baggage handler walking out with my guitar in one hand, a baby’s carseat in the other and, as I walk toward him, he hands me the car seat.
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Is it just me or was the silence of our music community deafening today?
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People using their children as a human buffer at the protest have to be the absolute lowest of the low. This isn’t Christmas dinner with the in-laws.
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Me: “Would you like me to make bagels with cream cheese for breakfast?”
Kids: “Yes!”
Me: “Yes, what?”
10 yo: “Yes, please.”
8 yo: “Yaaasss, QUEEN!!!”
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Well, I woke up this morning and it wasn’t just a dream after all 💙
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Dolly, serving up that straight talk in her autobiography 30 years ago 👊🏼🔥
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HISTORY IN THE MAKING, y’all! First time a female country artist has had their album nominated in 7 categories at
@AotearoaMusic
😭
👑 ALBUM OF THE YEAR
👑 BEST SOLO ARTIST
👑 BEST COUNTRY ARTIST
👑 BEST PRODUCER
👑 BEST MUSIC VIDEO
👑 BEST ALBUM ARTWORK
👑 BEST ENGINEER
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Never want to hear the term “JAFA” from anyone outside of Auckland ever again, mmmkay?
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Childhood dream UNLOCKED! It may not be the "cover", but, hot damn, it sure feels special to take up a full page in
@rollingstoneaus
!!! Huge thanks to Chris Cuffaro for this beautiful portrait 🙏🏼♥️
#gonnabuyfivecopiesformymother
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@JasonIsbell
I also love how Kiwis pronounce Jacinda Ardern, free healthcare and first country to give women the vote. It’s super cute.
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Sam (8yrs) : “I reckon you’re gonna be real famous in 10 yrs time.”
Me (laughing): “When I’m too old and it’s time for me to retire?”
Sam: “You’re not gonna retire! Willie Nelson is 89 and he sounds GREAT. You’re gonna sing til you die. It’s what you do.”
Mouths of babes ❤️
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When you ask your brother to do one last thing for you before he gets on the plane back home...
#fliptheswitch
#fliptheswitchchallenge
#QueenieChallenge
#QueenieQueenie
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I always found it hard to reconcile a loving God with one who would wipe out humanity with a flood- until overhearing someone complain about a concert they attended, then whining about the PM while they sipped wine with friends in a Covid-free country in the middle of a pandemic.
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2/2 They also showed me how to stand and fight for what is right, use your voice for activism, all while delivering joy. Tonight I have the huge honour of honouring them while we raise funds for their fight with cancer. I hope we can lift them up the way they’ve lifted us all ♥️
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For a kid who grew up in country music and lived in Nashville, getting to sing on the stage of the Mother Church, the birthplace of the
@opry
,
@theryman
, is something I’ve dreamt of my whole life. Thank you to
@crowdedhousehq
and the Finns for making that dream come true 🙏🏼♥️
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Kicking off our North American adventure and easing back into performing again with just a small, low-pressure audition 😮💨 So grateful to have these good luck charms with me to cheer me on. Cross your fingers for me! 😬🤞🏼
#SimonScaresMe
#agtauditions
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For your GRAMMY® consideration. I can’t believe after 35 years in the music business, I’m typing those words! To even be on the ballot makes my heart race. It’s the longest of long shots, but, it’s many long shots that got me here at all! Please vote for me and
@WillieNelson
🥹🙏🏼
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@taylorswift13
@netflix
Amendment: “You go through men faster than Taylor Swift drops albums during a mutherf@$&ing pandemic.”
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I got Wordle on my first try this morning and am now getting ready to head to a ranch called LUCK where Willie Nelson lives this afternoon. Pretty safe to say I’ve peaked and will now spend the rest of my life trying, and failing, to reach this point again. Sigh.
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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When you spend thousands on photoshoots for publicity pics to go with a painstakingly crafted press release and the national newspaper prints screenshots of you with snot on your face instead 😭🙈😂
Tami Neilson's incredible duet with Willie Nelson is out — and the singer has shared the emotional reaction she had to hearing the country legend sing her words. 💙
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Just wanted to let y’all know that, while we may have had earthquakes, tsunami alerts and lockdown to deal with today, like the rest of NZ, I’ve only suffered some very minor abrasions from falling head over heels for
@KiriAllan
😍
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“The night’s surprise was Tami Neilson, whose bravura “Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray” was a molten pool of watching the end go down…her reserve crumbled into a massive wave of emotion that even dwarfed her sartorial drama.” WOW, thank you
@Variety
🥹🙏🏼
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@JasonIsbell
I once walked off stage and passed an older man who bowed slightly and said, “Wonderful set!” I said, “Thank you!”, thinking he was stage crew and trying to remember his name as he looked familiar. I walked toward the green room and stopped dead as it dawned on me…!! 👑🤘🏼
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So, what does a girl have to do to open for
@thechicks
for their NZ shows? Win NZ Best Country artist/album/song 2022? ✅✅✅ Write a show about them and tour it? ✅ Do a duet with the NZ Chicks who graciously gave their name? 🐥Come on
@frontiertouring
🙏🏼I’m at your service 🫡
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Am I brave or crazy?! 🤪 Flashback to my childhood growing up in a motorhome on tour, now I’m taking my family on tour across North America in an RV for 6 months 😮💨🙌🏼 Follow along on our adventure and wish me luck!!!
#ontheroadagain
#thegreatneilsonadventure
#braveorcrazy
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…as I watched communities all over the country come together to be vaxxed, tears filled my eyes because now they are returning the favour- getting vaxxed so we can open up again safely. Thank you, Aotearoa. It’s a
#SuperSaturday
indeed 🙏🏼🥲 (2/2)
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In the past 24 hrs, I passed a kidney stone and Trump left office and I honestly can’t decide which was more of a relief.
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Pardon my French, but HOLY SH*T. I’m gonna need a minute to read this 10 more times without tears blurring my vision to fully process it 😮💨😭
“Kingmaker is easily the best country album of the decade, and one of the seminal recordings of the 21st century.” -
@CountryUniverse
@tamineilson
's landmark KINGMAKER goes beyond interrogating country music: It fully diagnoses its ailment while embodying the cure:
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Last year on this day,
@WillieNelson
recorded his vocals for our duet, "Beyond the Stars”. This was my reaction when I first heard it, in the midst of a 4 month lockdown in New Zealand. Today, it is on the ballot for
@recordingacademy
and now I'm ugly crying all over again 🙏🏼🥹💫
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I have no words for how I’m feeling. No mainstream radio play, no big Spotify playlists…just YOU, my New Zealand fans…YOU DID THIS. Thank you for helping me build my own table, so I don’t need to worry about not getting offered a seat at someone else’s. For being
#Kingmakers
👑
@tamineilson
scores her first ever Official
#1
Album! 'Kingmaker' also tops the NZ Album Chart this week, her 3rd release to reach the top spot.
#SteveLacy
climbs to
#1
on the Hot Chart. All the newly released charts are at
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COWBOY CARTER has dropped in New Zealand, y’all. Woke at 6:30 am with the whole house still asleep, grabbed my headphones and tiptoed downstairs to listen under the pre-dawn moon…here goes!!!
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1 year ago,
@WillieNelson
duet with
@tamineilsonmusic
“Beyond the Stars” was released into the world 💫 Since then, it’s been awarded both “Best Country Song” and “Best Country Album” in New Zealand! Watch the video, shot live
@luckreunion
on Willie’s Texas ranch.
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I’ve had the privilege of singing this song with some incredible artists, including my fave duet partner of all-time, Willie Nelson. But this moment is one that my heart will have burned onto it forever. The first time my boys have ever joined me on stage 🥹🥲❤️
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Your messages of love for Beyond the Stars and your shared grief have been truly overwhelming. Just so you know, I’ve heard it a million times the last 6 months and still weep. This is my reaction the first time I heard it with Willie’s vocals. I still “can’t deal!” 🥲♥️💫
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When it’s your day off on tour, but, you make an exception to sing one with an old pal 😉 Love ya
@WillieNelson
and
@BioAnnie2
♥️🙏🏼
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Yeah, sex is great, but have you had a standing ovation at The Ryman?
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I’ve been taking the night shift praying for
@JohnPrineMusic
down here at the bottom of the world in New Zealand, hoping that if we pester God 24/7 around the clock, He’ll let us keep him a bit longer 🙏🏼♥️
#johnprine
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To quote
@WillieNelson
"Yayyyy, we won, Tami!" Last night at the Country Music Honours in New Zealand, me, Willie and my co-writer
@delaneydavidson
won
@APRAAMCOSNZ
BEST COUNTRY SONG
2023! Guess which red-headed stranger crashed my acceptance speech?! 😮…
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So much to unpack here, but my biggest takeaways were:
1. Don’t be a dick.
2. Don’t be a dick.
and last, but not least…
3. Don’t be a dick
#dontbeadick
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There’s still nothing that beats hearing your song played on the radio for the 1st time. Listening to my duet with Willie on National radio
@radionz
with eyes welling up as messages of love come pouring in from across New Zealand. My heart is full ♥️🙏🏼💫
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Willie Nelson trending on Twitter for the 3rd time in a month just because he’s so loved is the antidote we all need for 2022. Let’s all be more like Willie.
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Woke up to the horrific news. Feeling heartsick for the women of America today 💔 Have spent the last week doing interviews for KINGMAKER, repeatedly answering the question of why there is so much “anger” in the lyrics. This is why. It is righteous anger. It is personal.
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Too many words and feelings for Twitter 💔 Have spent the morning listening and weeping, so I sat down to write what
@LorettaLynn
means to me…(1/2)
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An exciting day picking up the RV we’ll be living in for the next 5 months! I’ll do a proper grand tour once the pop-outs are extended and we’re all settled in. In the meantime, what should we name it?? 🚌 💨
#ontheroadagain
#thegreatneilsonadventure
#2023tour
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Double Down, Baby! Fully vaxxed and ready to…well, do nothing cuz I can’t do shows and bring the party til we’re out of lockdown and it’s safe to do so…and that won’t happen until we’ve all done our part to protect each other. Vaccinations are the gateway drug to live concerts!
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I am so grateful for this woman’s voice on Twitter. Her calm intelligence and compassion are an oasis in a cesspool of anger and misinformation and a such a comfort in lockdown. Follow her if your brain needs a balm. Thank you
@DrJinRussell
🙏🏼♥️
It's always good to learn from other countries. One month after lifting restrictions, Denmark has seen a surge in Covid-19 cases, and is now aiming to lift vaccine rates further to 90% of eligibles. Lessons? /1
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@MarissaRMoss
Did these guys read us weekly bedtime stories, drop an album, a movie AND a book all while donating millions to a vaccine, cuz if the answer is no, give it to Dolly and call it a god damned day.
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…right before we closed the show with a Gospel medley. It blows my mind that the new proposed bill criminalising drag shows in Tennessee would mean that he could be arrested for doing this today. What a sad, humourless world prejudice creates.
#whatadrag
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Can you imagine walking up to a performer wearing 3000 rhinestones and gold boots after they finish a show and saying, “Amazing voice! The outfit, though, not so much. We need to talk, honey.” all while wearing a basic af white lady peasant blouse and jeans? Bitch, please.
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Watching the internet react to Dolly Parton having the audacity to be sexy at 77 and perform in booty shorts and a cheerleaders outfit has been the best Thanksgiving gift of all time.
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Today I was supposed to be on tour. I began watching the
#Vaxathon
feeling blue, seeing musicians around NZ perform next to each other, able to harmonise without masks, because we Aucklanders have been holding it at bay for them in lockdown. Then…(1/2)
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This is the face I made when I got the message inviting me to do support for
@WillieNelson
!!! Y’ALL CAN U BELIEVE IT?! I was supposed to be flying back to NZ that day, but one of life’s Golden Rules is: When you’re asked to perform with Willie, you change your damn flights! 😱
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When you’re home by yourself and your new rhinestone dress arrives and you can’t wait to try it on but then you can’t get it unzipped and have to wear it to vacuum the house. (I’ve got 3 hrs before school pickup, wish me luck) 😬🤞🏼
#DivaProblems
#WhatWouldDollyDo
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“She knows her industry, and fires several broadsides against its patriarchy here, among them a title track that overreaches its cinematic ambitions…The Kiwi queen remains an imperious talent.”
*quietly sobs*
Thank you
@guardian
🙏🏼🥹
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When the party theme is 70s/80s pop stars, is there even another option? 💜🤘🏼⚡️🎶
#Prince
#purplerain
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Also, the lady in the white pant suit in the first row of the balcony giving me a standing O is The First Lady.
This was my first gig on my new 3 yr US work visa, so I'm assuming everyone gets this treatment, it’s the standard welcome and that's why it's called an "O Visa".
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In the past month,
@aircanada
lost my guitar and I had to replace it,
@qantas
then lost the replacement, now
@SingaporeAir
has broken this 2nd replacement. Touring right now is a nightmare. This is what the artists you love are going through to try and perform shows. Fuck.
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🎸 Thread 🧵: How did a trip from New Zealand to New Orleans lead to me singing a duet with Willie Nelson at
@LuckReunion
on his ranch in Texas? Here’s part one of my story of that two-year journey...
#LuckReunion
#WillieNelson
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New Orleans
@jazzfest
, you stole my heart! What an honour to play your stage and bask in the rich culture of your city. My body must be 5 lbs heavier and my soul is infinitely lighter, thanks to you 🙏🏼♥️ Opening for HEART was absolutely INSANE! Rock Goddess Mode activated 🤘🏼⚡️
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Saying goodbye to the RV today- how did 5 months across North America and back go by so quickly? Bittersweet, as I’m looking forward to being back home but also wish I could freeze time and stay on this adventure with my family forever. So grateful for this precious time ♥️🚌
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VISIBILITY MATTERS. I’m so grateful and overwhelmed. Such a huge honour to win all 3 of these awards, but Best Producer holds so much significance for me. In a category that has only included 5 women in the last 50 years, it feels like a very small but important step.
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@TylerMahanCoe
Fan or not, shit songs or not, the whole “male musician discredits female songwriter” vibe is way more tired and unoriginal than any music in question. Gonna go listen to Bobbie Gentry’s Ode to Billy Joe that her boyfriend wrote now…
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To all the man-trolls asking if I thanked the baggage handler for an item “more important” than being a “so called-musician”, the answer is: No. I just smiled, reached for my guitar, and asked if he had any spare Fragile stickers. What are your addresses?
Being a Female Musician is: The airport baggage handler walking out with my guitar in one hand, a baby’s carseat in the other and, as I walk toward him, he hands me the car seat.
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90 years of making the world a better place with your music.
Not only did you create the bar for the rest of us to try and reach, but you extend your hand to lift some of us up to the heavens to see the view every once in a while ♥️🙏🏼 Happy birthday, Willie! See u tonight!
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“The country star was joined by Willie Nelson for a duet.” Ah, New Zealand. The only place on earth that would call me a country star in the same sentence as Willie Nelson. Bless 😂🙏🏼♥️
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Some of you didn’t lip sync to Dolly Parton on a local TV Christmas special with your brothers when you were 11 years old and it shows.
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How do y’all handle ppl who stand so close in a queue you can feel their breath on your neck and they keep bumping into you when you step away from them? Taking suggestions other than actually asking them to step back because that would require changing my entire personality.
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*For those noting the gender disparity in the selection of support acts for our New Zealand Tour, we regret that all male artists were unavailable due to headlining Homegrown and the majority of NZ festivals 😜
#highwomen
#WomenSupportingWomen
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I survived Brokenwood!!! I feel so lucky to have gotten to hang (figure of speech!) with the crew for the season 10 finale 🔪 🧨 💣 👀 😮💨 Still holding out for the episode where I meet an unfortunate end and have my moment on Gina’s slab…a girl can dream.
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To celebrate my fave duet partner
@WillieNelson
’s 91st bday, after a magical week in Nashville of all things Patsy, I thought for this month’s NEILSON SINGS NELSON, I’d combine them and share this recording I did years ago of “Crazy” for the Brokenwood Mysteries soundtrack 💘
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Met my manager for a walk (first non-family person I’ve seen in almost 2 months) we wore masks and within 5 min, 2 women in front of us with their kids turned around, one pointed and said, “Oh look, they’re so scared.” The other laughed and said, “I mean, we’re outdoors!” 🤦🏻♀️
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What to do when your gigs get cancelled...(props to
@LuckReunion
for keeping us all safe- not an easy thing to navigate 😢♥️) See you in 2021? I’ll bring the ice cream!!! 🍦🍦
#shitouttaluck
#hotdamn
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Not me sobbing my eyes out because after 2 years, I get to see my family again in 2022 😭 Home isolation for NZ citizens begins Feb 13! 😭♥️🇨🇦🙏🏼
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I’m gobsmacked! This is a bit of a big , fancy deal 🤩 👑 Making the
@PolarisPrize
nominations while on my native soil with my family is some kind of special. I am so humbled to be in such incredible company. Thank you for believing in this album enough to give it a vote 🥹🙏🏼🇨🇦
.
@tamineilson
'Kingmaker' has been nominated for the
#Polaris2023
#LongList
.
Tami Neilson 'Kingmaker' est en nomination sur la
#Longueliste
du
#Polaris2023
.
@Conseilartscan
@CanadaCouncil
#FACTORFunded
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When you start the day with Sunny Sweeney, have lunch with Wanda Jackson’s granddaughter and end it having a chat with Patsy Cline’s daughter after band rehearsal with Cactus Moses and The Isaacs, you know there is nowhere else on earth you could possibly be but Nashville 🤯🤩
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The Most Beautiful Boy in the Room…(in the whole wide room)
#iykyk
What an absolute honour to have the one and only
@bretrospective
join us as a surprise special guest last night in Wellington to sing “Beyond the Stars” with me! 💫
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I AM COMPLETELY GOBSMACKED. I am joining this absolutely stacked lineup of Queens celebrating THE GREATEST QUEEN OF ALL, Patsy Cline…on the sacred stage of the Mother Church of Country Music,
@theryman
, no less. Y’all, how am I supposed to sleep for the next 2 weeks?! Howwww??
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Happy Birthday to the best card slingin', country singin' Texas hustler there is. We're a day ahead of the real deal down here in NZ, but it's a beautiful day here in the future on the 29th of April and we're celebrating you already! Love from the Neilson to the Nelson x 🎉♥️
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My 6yo son: “Mama, I don’t mean to be rude, but, I’m afraid you are now my
#2
favourite singer. Dolly Pardner is now my
#1
. But only by 1%, so, don’t feel too bad.” I’m good with those odds,
@DollyParton
(and secretly patting myself on the back that I’ve raised him right 😉🙌🏼)
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One week ago today, my life was forever changed. Thank you for taking this gal with you beyond the stars, Willie 💫
(📷 by
@CricketRamsey
)
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