While Presenting At The Grammys, Dwayne Johnson Shared That Willie Nelson Gave Him His First Guitar

Country legend Willie Nelson had a big night at the 2023 Grammy Awards. The Texas native won the prize for Best Country Solo Performance for his cover of Billy Joe Shaver’s 

"Live Forever.” It was Nelson’s 11th Grammy win and while he wasn’t at the awards show to collect the prize, one of his biggest fans was there—Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who shared an amazing story about Nelson from the stage.

Johnson was at the show to present Best Pop Solo Performance. While Johnson is better known for his life in the wrestling ring and on screen in films like Jumanji and the Fast and the Furious franchise, he reminded the audience he’s also a musician, and his interest in music was greatly encouraged by none other than Willie Nelson.

While many of us were inspired to try our hands at country music after listening to “On the Road Again” or “"Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”, The Rock is, well, The Rock. On stage at the Grammys last night, Johnson shared his love of Elvis, Louis Armstrong, and Loretta Lynn and casually mentioned that Willie Nelson gave him his very first guitar. “Pretty cool story,” he added, trying to sound humble about one of the biggest name drops of the night. 

“These and many other artists helped shape who I am and influenced my own singing style, which at times includes singing in keys that don’t exist,” Johnson said to laughs from an audience that included Taylor Swift, who lifted her glass in appreciation. 

Johnson then took to Twitter again Monday morning and shared a post from Andy Langer. The Austin City Limits radio host shared a thread of tweets that began with, “Funny to hear @TheRock talk on the #GRAMMYs about @WillieNelson giving him his 1st guitar. I didn’t see the handoff, but I was in the room (a trailer downtown on the set of the “Mendocino County Line” video in downtown Austin) when they first met.”

Johnson retweeted Langer’s tweet confirming that Andy was there and that he was in “complete shock” at meeting Nelson. He also said that “the guitar still comes with me everywhere I go.”