Four country legends over 70 are proving age is no barrier as they out-work artists half their age and keep releasing new chapters. ML

For a lot of artists, by the time they hit their 70s, they are ready to relax and enjoy the result of their hard work. But some artists hit their 70s, and just keep right on working. These four country artists are all over the age of 70, and still working harder than ever.

Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson turned 92 years old earlier this year. But for Nelson, age isn’t a reason to stop working. Nelson still performs and still makes music. His 78th solo album, Workin’ Man: Willie Sings Merle, singing songs of Merle Haggard, will be out on November 7.

Nelson admits that he didn’t even think he’d make it into his nineties. But now that he has, he has no plans of retiring.

“I didn’t ever think I’d get this old. I always thought I was lucky to make it past 21,” the “On The Road Again” singer tells Slate.

Dolly Parton

There likely isn’t anyone who works harder than Dolly Parton, of any age. Parton, who turned 79 years old in January, is still working on making music. She is currently putting the finishing touches on a Broadway musical about her life and career, and getting ready to open her Songteller Hotel in Nashville. The East Tennessee native also has her own wine, cosmetics, perfume, cake mixes, and much more.

“I love my work. I don’t ever want to retire,” Parton tells Fox News. “Everything that you do, it’s just like a tree with many branches, with many leaves, and every dream — new dreams just kind of work off of them.”

Randy Owen

Randy Owen will turn 76 this December. The lead singer of Alabama, a group he started in the late 60s with his cousins Teddy Gentry and Jeff Cook, Owen is still performing with Gentry, after Cook passed away in 2022, with a tour calendar full of dates.

“I enjoy every show and thank God I get to do one more show,” Owen tells Taste of Country.

Owen still occasionally headlines his own solo concerts. He also works with Country Cares, an organization he founded to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

George Strait

George Strait is 73 years old, and he is still selling out stadiums. Strait actually tried to retire once, launching his The Cowboy Rides Away Tour in 2013, which wrapped up in 2014. But the lure of the crowd pulled him back, and he now continues to perform, albeit not as much as earlier in his career.

Strait recently announced a stadium show in 2026, with Cody Johnson and Wyatt Flores. It’s the only concert on his calendar right now, but the King of Country Music says he has a few more years, at least, to perform.

“I have maybe five good years to sing my songs for you folks,” Strait said during a show this past May. “But hell, it’s been around 50 now and I still love it just as much as I ever did. When I hear ol’ John Michael say my name and I walk through those curtains and I see your smiling faces, my feet don’t touch the ground again until I walk back out and get on that bus.”