Nearly a year after begging off a show at Desert Diamond Casino last February, country music legend Willie Nelson is heading back to Tucson.
Nelson and his family band return Jan. 5 to the casino where they have played a string of sold-out shows year after year. Tickets start at $40 and go on sale Friday, Nov. 24, through startickets.com or at the casino’s Rewards Center box office, 1100 W. Pima Mine Road.
Days before he was to play Desert Diamond on Feb. 10, Nelson begged off, citing illness. Tucson was one of four shows the 84-year-old country singer canceled.
Judging from his active schedule of late, Nelson appears to be doing just fine. The singer this week is announcing a slew of 2018 dates, including Tucson, and is flying high off his Country Music Association win last week for musical event of the year with the late Glen Campbell.
The pair recorded Nelson’s classic tune “Funny How Time Slips Away” for Campbell’s final album, “Adios,” released last summer just two months before Campbell died on Aug. 8, six years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. The former Arizona resident was 81.
Nelson returns to Tucson with his family in tow, including son Lukas, who is on the lineup for the 2018 Country Thunder music festival in Florence in April.
