( CNN ) -- Does the singer come first ? Or the songwriter ? Let 's start with the songs : `` Crazy . '' `` Hello Walls . '' `` Funny How Time Slips Away . '' `` Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground . '' `` On the Road Again . '' Just the catalogue alone would qualify him for any number of musical halls of fame -- and , indeed , Willie Nelson is in the Country Music Hall of Fame , the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Kennedy Center Honors . He has a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Country Music Association , the first it ever presented . They decided to name it for him . Then there 's the voice , that baritone as smooth as fine whiskey , capable of jaunty sing-alongs , angry despair , pensive melancholy . Amazingly , his delivery was once considered too unusual for Nashville , with a start-stop phrasing that skipped around the beat . Now it 's as welcome as his other voice , the well-worn Martin N-20 acoustic guitar he calls `` Trigger . '' Add to that Willie Nelson the man . He 's the man who co-created Farm Aid , the annual festival that has raised more than $ 43 million to help farm families . ( That got him into the Agricultural Hall of Fame . ) He started BioWillie , which makes fuel out of soy and vegetable oils . He has a street named for him in Austin , Texas , his home since the early 1970s . He 's still at it , raising money for the victims of the West , Texas , explosion . West is not far from Abbott , where Nelson was born . OK , Willie Nelson is n't without flaw . He 's been busted for marijuana on more than one occasion . He has n't always been faithful to his wives ; his first one famously tied a passed-out Nelson in a bedsheet and beat him with a broom handle . He had a little tax problem with the IRS and put out a 1992 album called `` The IRS Tapes : Who 'll Buy My Memories ? '' to pay his multimillion-dollar debts . But who would want a flawless Willie Nelson ? On Tuesday , Willie Nelson turns 80 . ( Some well-known friends -- and everyday fans -- sent him their wishes . ) He 'll be playing music , of course -- the Germain Arena in Estero , Florida , according to his website . What else would he do ? `` I seem to be happier when I 'm working , '' he told The New York Times in 1995 . `` I tend to get into trouble with too much time on my hands . '' That 's OK , Willie . We hope you never stop .
Willie Nelson turns 80 today . In addition to being a songwriter and singer he co-created Farm Aid . Nelson will be playing a concert on his birthday .