Latest news with #LukasNelson
Daily Mail
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Joe Rogan in awe by son of music icon's encounters with orb-shaped UFOs: 'That's crazy'
The son of legendary music star Willie Nelson left Joe Rogan in awe by revealing that he's had multiple encounters with UFOs. Country music singer and songwriter Lukas Nelson revealed on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast that he and several other people have watched as orb-shaped UFOs streaked over Hawaii. 'I've seen some stuff. When I was in Maui, twice I've seen something that I couldn't explain,' Nelson said during the July 10 interview. According to Nelson, the first encounter took place nearly 20 years ago in 2006, when he witnessed an orange orb floating less than 200 yards over Maui which seemed to be observing the onlookers below. 'Then I swear it seemed like as soon as enough people saw it, it went whoosh. And then it went whoosh. And it moved like nothing else I thought possible at the time. It went out of the atmosphere. And it was crazy. Faster than any drone,' the performer said. In a second incident, the country singer added that he and a group of friends were on the Hawaiian island of Lanai when a pulsing and multi-colored craft moved across the entire horizon. Nelson didn't have any proof with him that could confirm what he saw, but the stories were very similar to recent orb incidents, including several involving glowing orange orbs flying over the US. In fact, orb sightings like Nelson's have become incredibly common, with dozens of cases being reported in just the last fives years alone. Nelson added that he's been following the news about government officials disclosing what they know about UFOs and extraterrestrials, telling Rogan that he's not just a believer, he's praying for their arrival on Earth. Hee also cited the famous 1967 incident where a UFO allegedly disarmed 10 nuclear warheads at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana as proof that aliens are trying to save humanity from global destruction. 'My great hope is that there is someone just trying to, you know, not step in but oversee it to the point where we hopefully we can survive to a point of having an interstellar civilization,' Nelson explained. The music star said he's even asked ChatGPT for help trying to filter out which UFO reports are real and which can be easily debunked. 'When I looked at all of the credible UFO reports, the only ones that really had no explanation... And the one that was not, the one that's still sort of outstanding is the USS Nimitz experience,' he revealed. Nelson was talking about the 2004 incident involving a craft that has infamously become known as the 'Tic-Tac' UFO. On November 14, 2004, Commander David Fravor, a Top Gun fighter pilot, was flying a training exercise off the coast of San Diego when he was re-routed to investigate a strange object spotted on radar by warships protecting his aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz. Fravor spotted a roughly 40-foot white object with no windows or wings, shaped like a Tic-Tac, that mirrored the pilot's movements before flying off at thousands of miles per hour, and then somehow stopping in midair seconds later. 'That seems to be the most compelling,' Nelson declared during the podcast interview. As for his own experience with unexplained phenomena, Nelson's story of the glowing orange orb over Hawaii has been repeated by multiple witnesses in the US, UK, Australia, Brazil, and Mexico. The National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), a non-profit organization that documents and investigates UFO reports, recently added 50 new orb sightings to their archives, with 46 taking place since 2020. NUFORC revealed that these sightings come from civilians, professional pilots, and even military personnel. Many of those witnesses reported the same type of strange encounter Nelson described, where the orbs tended to hover, seemingly observing the people and places around them before escaping at great speed. 'A bright light shined in my window. Once I [had] seen it, it zipped away,' one witness told NUFORC about a February 19, 2024 orb sighting in Antelope, California. In late December 2024, another swarm of bright orange UFO orbs were allegedly caught flying over New York City, raising concerns over the holiday week. A local recorded video of the sighting above Brookville Blvd in Queens, New York, right next to John F Kennedy International Airport. 'Lived here 14 years with planes flying by all day everyday. They fly so low it feels like you can almost touch them. I know what they look like when they come in to land and take off. I have never ever seen anything like this. Ever,' another New York resident who also witnessed the incident posted on Reddit. That same week, a father and son in Georgia chased an orange UFO orb after they spotted the mysterious light floating through the sky while taking out the trash. On December 26, 2024, a beaming orange glow in the distant night sky stopped the dad in his tracks outside his home in Central Georgia around 6:30 pm ET. Confused, he pointed out the peculiar glow around the orb to his son. The pair stared at it for several minutes and decided to film what they were seeing. 'I've seen similar sightings by myself before but this was the first time I was able to film something I witnessed while being in company of another person,' the father posted on Reddit. Rogan and Nelson discussed the possibility that these sightings may not be alien spacecraft at all. Instead, they suggested that all of them could be secret US military craft. Nelson noted that in the last 25 years there have been few military projects which have been declassified by the government. 'I'm curious as to like what in 25 years based on the technology that we've been able to see that makes it to modern society, how much is held back and what we don't see,' the singer explained. While Nelson didn't believe the US government was capable of covering up the existence for UFO-inspired aircraft, Rogan claimed it was very possible that such an operation exists. 'I think there's a high likelihood that a lot of this stuff is ours,' Rogan said.
Forbes
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Lukas Nelson's New Album Is ‘A Love Letter To The Country That Raised Me'
Lukas Nelson performs onstage for day one of the 2024 Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival at The ... More Park at Harlinsdale Farm on September 28, 2024 in Franklin, Tennessee. Lukas Nelson took his first steps on a tour bus. He grew up on highways shadowed by towering grain silos and roads that twisted through ragged hills. He's not sure there's an interstate in the U.S. that he hasn't seen. Sometimes people ask where he grew up. He's not sure how to answer. 'I grew up traveling on the roads since I was a baby,' said Nelson, a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and the 36-year-old son of Willie Nelson. 'I feel like America really raised me." Nelson decided to write about his experience of being raised on the road for American Romance, a 12-song solo album that debuted last month via Sony Music Nashville. A departure from his longtime band Promise of the Real, American Romance comes billed as the solo debut for Nelson, a tenured musician who's worked with Neil Young, Lady Gaga and Lainey Wilson, among others. For the album, Nelson wanted to write 'a John Steinbeck-equse narrtive of my upbringing and travels,' he said. Listeners hear the result on a collection of rich, detailed songs that chronicle restless life lessons and open-hearted adventures. 'The diners and truck stops, Thanksgiving dinners away from home … I wanted it to feel like each song is a chapter in a great American novel. A love letter to the country that raised me," Nelson said. For American Romance, Nelson recorded at Sunset Sound Recording Studio in Hollywood alongside another second-generation song-maker – Shooter Jennings, a sought-after producer who was behind the board for standout releases from Brandi Carlile, Charley Crockett and others. Working with Jennings? It's comfortable, Nelson said. 'He brought out what I feel like what the best sonic quality you can get,' Nelson said. He continued, 'The ideas he had, in terms of how to present the music, and to bring out the best in me, performance-wise … I felt really grateful for his influence.' The album blends shades of undeniable country influence (on the fiddle-drenched number 'Outsmarted') with ambitious heartland rock ("Runnin' Out of Time") and time-tested folk storytelling (none more evident than the title track, 'American Romance'). He enlists guest features from troubadour Stephen Wilson Jr. – on the sobering cut 'Disappearing Light' – and Sierra Ferrell, who harmonizes on 'Friend In The End,' an endearing number where the two sing 'I guess I just found me a friend/ I think I can call you my friend in the end.' American Romance begins with a declaration from Nelson. In the chorus of the robust opening number 'Ain't Done,' he sings 'God ain't done with you" – five words that remind listeners of the highs and lows that come with living another day. Nelson co-wrote 'Ain't Done' with sought-after Nashville songwriter Aaron Raitiere. 'We fleshed that [song] out in an hour or less. It really wrote itself," Nelson said. He added, 'Sometimes, the good ones come quick and easy and you don't really overthink it too much.' And the album ends with 'You Were It,' a tender-to-the-touch country tune that Nelson said he wrote as an 11-year-old learning his way around a song. 'That song, when I wrote it, my dad heard it and Kris Kristofferson heard it,' Nelson. 'My dad loved it so much he recorded it. He put it on his album It Always Will Be. That really got me the confidence I needed to be a songwriter. That and Kris said, 'Are you going to be a songwriter?' I said, 'I don't know.' He said, 'well, you don't have a choice after that song.''
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Legendary Country Star's Son Makes Bittersweet Comment About His Famous Father
Legendary Country Star's Son Makes Bittersweet Comment About His Famous Father originally appeared on Parade. A lot comes with being the son of greatness, whether it's the pressure to follow in their family's footsteps, create a life of their own, or even just match the legacy they are presented with. They certainly have all the tools laid out for them, so how will they use them? That's certainly a question that has been posed to Lukas Nelson, son of country icon Willie Nelson. Lukas Nelson has been performing for a long time, getting his start by writing the song "You Were It" for his father, which appeared on the album "It Always Will Be" in 2004. His band, Lukas Nelson & The Promise of the Real, have done well for themselves, touring with Neil Young and releasing a few solid albums. Most recently, Nelson has been on tour with his father as a part of the 10th Outlaw Festival tour. In a recent interview, Nelson revealed what effect that has on him, for better or for worse. "No matter how I work, how hard I work, I'll still be the son of Willie Nelson," the singer/songwriter says, though adding that it's also very inspiring. It's an incredibly difficult position to try and work from, and many commenters sympathized with Nelson's struggles. "Lukas has such a unique style, but you can definitely feel Willie's influence in his music. Great interview!" "Seen him play and he's great! His talent speaks for itself." "Fabulous musician." Lukas Nelson has made some amazing music throughout his career, and he deserves all the praise he can get. I really recommend his band's self-titled album. There's a smoky ambience that carries throughout the entire album that makes you feel like you're seeing it in a small club somewhere. I got to see "Forget About Georgia" live, and that was certainly a treat. Check his stuff out! Related: Country Icon's Son Delights Fans with Amazing Story Behind 'Song That Got Him Into Music' 🎬SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox🎬 Legendary Country Star's Son Makes Bittersweet Comment About His Famous Father first appeared on Parade on Jun 20, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 20, 2025, where it first appeared.
Time Magazine
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
Lukas Nelson Is Ready to Make a Name for Himself
Even if you can't name one song by Lukas Nelson, chances are you've already heard his music. The 36-year-old singer-songwriter (and son of country music mainstay Willie Nelson) has not only been releasing country-roots albums with his band the Promise of the Real since 2010, he and his band have been touring and recording with Neil Young since 2016. Nelson has also written for the screen: In 2020, he won a Grammy for his work on a little film called A Star Is Born, for which he wrote and co-produced several songs, as well as appeared on screen as a member of Bradley Cooper's band. Despite all of these accolades and accomplishments, Nelson has a grander vision for himself. He'd love to graduate from behind-the-scenes player—let's say your favorite country artist's favorite country artist—into a top-billed superstar in his own right. There's no reason to think that he won't meet the moment. Nelson's debut solo album, American Romance (produced by Shooter Jennings, son of Waylon), is brimming with universal observations about love, loss, family, perseverance, and the cycle of birth and death. It's all set against a classic American backdrop of diner counters and truck stops, East Coast turnpike exits and snow-tipped Montana mountains. Led by Nelson's acoustic fingerpicking and aching, reedy vocals, American Romance goes down with the familiar ease of a time-worn Townes Van Zandt record while distinguishing itself enough to stand on its own in the modern-country landscape. Ahead of his album's release on June 20, Nelson spoke to TIME about the long road to American Romance, finding the right way to discuss his lineage, and why he's a 'disciple of Dolly Parton' when it comes to politics. Nelson: Well, Promise of the Real was a band that I started when I was 19. I was always the songwriter, and those guys traveled with me through thick and thin. We became Neil Young's backing band for five years. Then we're trying to do both my songs and Neil's songs and straddle that line. But a lot of the fans that we got were fans of Neil and, of course, my father. Eventually I realized, if I don't establish myself as an artist right now, then I won't be able to. So I just decided to go out and play for my own fans and my own generation and figure out who I am. I had to just become Lukas Nelson. I stopped smoking weed, I became sober. I faced my fear of flying by becoming a pilot. And I sort of let go of a lot of the legacy ideals that I had grown up with and felt pressured by. There's a song on the album—it's the first song I ever wrote, when I was 11, called 'You Were It.' I wrote that before I started telling myself a story of who I was meant to be. That song came to me on a school bus. My dad liked it so much that he recorded it. Then Kris Kristofferson said, "I love that song. Are you going to be a songwriter?" I said, "I don't know." He said, "Well, you don't have a choice." That inspired me to become a musician. But now I'm trying to ask myself: What do I mean musically? How do you feel American Romance might begin to answer that question? I'm working with some of my favorite musicians of our time: Stephen Wilson Jr., Sierra Ferrell, Anderson East. 'God Ain't Done,' I wrote with Aaron Raitiere, who just had a hit with 'You Look Like You Love Me' with Ella Langley and Riley Green. I'm writing a lot with Ernest [Keith Smith], who's written all the number one hits on Morgan Wallen's recent album. I've always believed that I could stand toe-to-toe with anyone as a songwriter. I am a songwriter first and foremost—I play good guitar, and I sing well, and I perform well, but the songs are the most important thing, what brought me to A Star is Born and what really, I think, caused Neil [Young] to take notice. You have artists like Kacey Musgraves, Zach Bryan, Chris Stapleton, Tyler Childers—these are the artists that I respect, and I want to be part of that conversation and musical landscape. I want to have a career that lasts as long as my father's. And when my father played, he played for his generation, and they followed him now up into his nineties. So in order to have that longevity, I have to be smart and play to my own people. I've always known and respected [Shooter] for his musicality. I'd always wanted to work with him. I think now was the perfect moment, because he's established himself separate from his legacy, as an incredible producer. Now I feel like the conversation is less about, 'Oh, isn't it cool that these kids are doing it and their fathers were friends?' That becomes a little bit of icing on the cake. Those who don't know us will probably still look at it that way. And that's something I deal with my whole life. [But] we've gotten past the idea that we are only just the sons of [ Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings]. We have our own careers that we've built. I respect [Shooter's] work ethic. When I started playing with the band, we did 250 shows a year for a good part of 10 years, just in order to prove to myself. I knew I was going to have to work twice as hard. People who don't know me are always going to have an opinion on whether I got anything handed to me, but I know how hard I worked, and so at the moment of my death, that's what I'm going to look at. I can see that Shooter has the same approach. I can imagine you having so many different internal conversations with yourself. Like on one hand, when Kris Kristofferson tells you that you were born to be a songwriter, that's amazing. At the same time, like with any family business, did you feel like there was ever even a choice? I'm so grateful that he gave me that inspiration because it lit a fire. And I had the confidence to say, 'OK, put my head down, ignore everything anyone else is saying and just work, and I think I have some sort of innate understanding of this songwriting thing that I can actually nurture.' I'm really grateful to that 11-year-old boy who understood that the time that he put in then would pay off now. And it has. It was about just closing my ears to any of the chatter and playing guitar eight hours a day and through the night, much to the chagrin of my mother, and just obsessing over songwriting, not giving a crap about parties in high school. I never had one sip of a beer until I was in college. I just focused. The greatest part about being the son of my father, and of my mother [Annie D'Angelo] too, was the inspiration and support. Like Colonel Tom Parker seeing Elvis and saying, "I'm going to focus all of my efforts on that man," he invested and made him a star. So somebody has to champion you, and I was lucky to have that growing up. Yeah, it's a double-edged sword. Say you have no industry connections and want to make it as an artist, you're going to need someone to take a chance on you. Meanwhile, as you've described, say you do come from a family with every connection—someone will still have to personally vouch for you, because people will make assumptions. Now I've gotten to this place where I think I'm clear-headed enough to understand how to talk about it. I didn't really know how to describe what I was feeling. I was in my Beatles Hamburg days—just playing show after show after show. And when people would ask me [about my father], I'd be like, 'I don't even have time to answer that. Ask me about my record.' You know what I mean? I love my dad and he's a good man, and I love my mom and she's a good woman. And my brother and sisters. It's a good family. I'm lucky. Not because he's a successful musician, because he's a good person and a kind person and is in touch with his empathy. That's what I'm most grateful for. How did you end up settling on the album name American Romance? The title came from the song, [which is] like a portrait. This whole album is a bunch of different chapters, kind of in a John Steinbeck Travels With Charley, memoir-like [way] about different moments that shaped me growing up in this country that raised me. The loves and the losses and the heartache, and then the elation. There were moments where I've spent Thanksgiving dinners at a truck stop having the turkey special, and then having the kindly waitress feel bad for me, although she was working too. It's the Walmart parking lots. It's the sirens at night, the rendezvous in the night. There's a thousand different stories I have in hundreds of hours of travel, but I tried to just put it into an album of 13 songs. At the same time, it's an album about the future. I've got a song called 'Pretty Much' that talks about how I envision the hour of my death and what I hope is in store for me in terms of love and relationships. I'd love to be surrounded by my family and them desperately wanting all the information about how I met the love of my life, who's right there beside me, and telling all the different stories about when I fell in love. It's about the future and the past and the present. You split your time between Nashville and Hawaii now, and between Hawaii and Texas when you were growing up. When people ask, where do you say you're from? I was raised by America, by the United States. The roads raised me. I may have been born in Texas, and I spent some time there. I spent some time in Hawaii. But most of my life was spent on the road growing up from Walmart parking lot to motel, to hotel to diner to stage. It's easier almost to say the greater United States than it is to say anywhere in specific. Country music has such a legacy of storytelling about America, encapsulating the good, the bad, the mundane. But 2025 is such a unique time to release a body of work about the country, seeing as the country itself has rarely been more divided. As someone who has traveled it so extensively, what are some commonalities that you think everybody living in the U.S. still shares? That's a great question. I believe that we all share the heart. There's a song I have called 'Turn Off the News (Build a Garden).' 'I believe that every heart is kind, some are just a little underused' is the first line. I think that when we can connect with our hearts, we can open up empathy inside of ourselves. Now, there are exceptions to the rule. Obviously some people are sociopathic. So barring that, I feel like music has the power to cut through the mind and reach the heart. What we can all relate to is suffering in love and relationships and heartbreak. Those things are really universal. My belief is that I can change people's minds more by doing what I do than by standing and making statements. I can put it in my music. I believe that strongly, and I've seen it work. There's a guy named Daryl Davis who is a Black musician, and he has converted over 200 Klansmen, to the point where they give him their hoods because he sat there and talked to them. This guy has some balls. He somehow reached their hearts. I think the only way to change people's minds, if they have hatred, is to try and reach their hearts. I don't think calling them a monster will do it. Some people are beyond changing, I understand that. But music has the power to open up hearts. I know I'm good at one thing, and I do it. I am not a politician. I have friends that span the aisles, as they say. But kindness and compassion are where I try to live from. I look at someone who's suffering, and I always believe in helping that person out. I'm a disciple of Dolly Parton, let's just say.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Lukas Nelson to Perform Songs From His New Album ‘American Romance' With Livestream Set
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission. Just a few days before he drops his new solo studio project, American Romance, Lukas Nelson will commemorate the release by performing tracks from the LP during an upcoming TalkShopLive by Rolling Stone senior music editor Joseph Hudak, Nelson will walk fans through the process of writing his new album, which was produced by Shooter Jennings and features collaborations with everyone from Americana star Sierra Ferrell to country singer-songwriter Anderson East, with a stream hosted on platform TalkShopLive. Nelson is expected to play two tracks from American Romance, including the album's title song and 'You Were It' during the event. More from Rolling Stone Airbnb Kicks Off New Lollapalooza Experiences, From Private Sets to Backstage Tours These Best-Selling Sony Headphones Are Only $11. Seriously. NBA Finals Tickets: How to Get Last-Minute Thunder vs. Pacers Stubs Online Fans will also have the chance to pick up autographed copies of Nelson's new LP on CD and vinyl during the TalkShopLive stream. Nelson's TalkShopLive event will be simulcast on Rolling Stone, including the livestream below, on June 16, starting at 8:30 p.m. ET. 'This album is the first chapter in a whole new era of my life as an artist,' says Nelson in a statement. 'It's a love story to the country that raised me. Diners and highways that carried me through the joy and pain that led to the music you hear now.' Following the release of American Romance, Nelson is set to tour the country this summer, including stops at Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Wildlands Festival in Big Sky, Montana; along with the Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival in Alya, Wyoming, in August. Best of Rolling Stone The Best Audiophile Turntables for Your Home Audio System
