As the son of the legendary Willie Nelson, Lukas Nelson is carving out his own musical path. After more than a decade fronting his band Promise of the Real, the 36-year-old singer-songwriter dropped his solo debut, American Romance, in June 2025. While the Red-Headed Stranger is no doubt proud of his son’s success, music is still a Nelson family affairp. Recently, father and son proved they are still best together with this beautiful cover of a Pearl Jam hit.
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Willie Nelson, Lukas Nelson Cover Pearl Jam Classic at Outlaw Music Fest
On Saturday (July 5), Willie Nelson, 92, and Lukas Nelson made a stop at Dallas’ Dos Equis Pavilion during their Outlaw Music Festival tour. And much to the audience’s delight, they teamed up for a breathtaking (pun intended) cover of Pearl Jam’s hit “Just Breathe.”
“Heart-wrenching and beautiful,” declared one concertgoer.
Grunge pioneers Pearl Jam released “Just Breathe” in 2009 as the second single off their ninth studio album, Backspacer. The ephemeral tune spent 13 weeks atop Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart.
In 2012, Willie and Lukas Nelson put a country spin on the song for Willie’s 60th studio album, Heroes. In a 2023 interview with Texas Monthly, Lukas said “Just Breathe” was his most-streamed duet with his dad.
“Well, we were listening to a lot of Pearl Jam, my band and I, and that record had just come out, Backspacer, so I loved that song,” recalled the A Star Is Born songwriter. “I thought the lyrics really spoke to the way that Dad feels and has taught me in life . . . It was great. It was cool the way it came together.”
[RELATED: Watch Willie Nelson Join His Son, Lukas Nelson, to Cover a Pearl Jam Classic at Farm Aid]
Don’t Call Him a Nepo Baby
While Lukas Nelson has always strived to to make dad Willie Nelson proud, he was determined to do it his own way.
I wanted to make him proud by not needing him,” Lukas said during a recent appearance on The Howard Stern Show . “[So], I put 70,000 miles on a ’91 Econoline Ford with my first band, and we went out for 15 years and played 250 shows a year straight and built something with ourselves that now I can say I feel like I’ve earned—and I think that makes my dad and my mom the most proud.”
Featured image by Nicola Gell/WireImage
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