Willie Nelson Statue Unveiled in Austin on 420

Country Music legend Willie Nelson was honored in Austin,  Texas on Friday with the unveiling of a statue of his likeness. The statue is located in front of the legendary Moody theater, which is the location of the Austin City Limits studio in downtown Austin. The singer songwriter performed a song called "Roll Me Up And Smoke Me When I Die", certainly an appropriate choice for the longtime marijuana legalization advocate, who has had his share of brushes with the law on the subject.

Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell accepted the statue, which was donated by a private arts group.  Was the date of the unveiling planned for any special reason?

Organizers said they didn't intentionally choose April 20 for the event, but once they found out, they scheduled the unveiling at 4:20 p.m. as a tongue-in-cheek reference to Nelson's openness about his marijuana use and advocacy for its legalization.

Not surprisingly, the smell of the illegal weed was noticeable among the crowd of about 2,000 that came out to honor Nelson, who joked "What time is it?" as the clock approach 4:20 p.m. "I feel it's getting close to something."

Victoria Advocate