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CNN Live Event/Special
Farm Aid 2026 Music Festival Live. Aired 11-11:45p ET
Aired September 26, 2026 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[23:00:00]
(SINGING)
WILLIE NELSON, AMERICAN SINGER-SONGWRITER: Thank you.
(SINGING)
[23:05:00]
NELSON: All right. Thank you all very much. Let's get Lily Meola out here and we'll do a song together. Lily.
Come here, darling. There you are.
(SINGING)
[23:10:00]
NELSON: Lily.
(SINGING)
NELSON: All right, look, let's do just --
LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: Wow. I mean, John.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: It's just amazing.
COATES: Are you kidding? Willie Nelson still rocking after more than 70 years of making music. We'll have even more from Willie and his family after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:17:29]
COATES: Welcome back to Farm Aid 2026 on CNN. We've already been treated to such a special show from Willie Nelson and family and we're in for even more. In just a second, you're going to hear back on stage, Willie Nelson going strong. 93.
BERMAN: 93. Let's get back to Willie and his family.
(MUSIC) [23:25:00]
NELSON: Micah, do that song. Our review on TV we've been watching.
MICHAEL NELSON, WILLIE NELSON'S YOUNGEST SON: This is a love song.
W. NELSON: Yes, sing along.
(MUSIC)
W. NELSON: I'm the "Last Leaf on the Tree".
(MUSIC)
[23:34:00]
W. NELSON: Thank you all very much. Appreciate it. Thank you. Let's bring Neil Young out here and help me do one.
M. NELSON: There he is.
W. NELSON: Where he go? There he is. Let's take one. Thank you.
NEIL YOUNG, SINGER-SONGWRITER AND MUSICIAN: So beautiful. Remember this one, Willie?
W. NELSON: Heck yes.
(MUSIC)
[23:38:02]
W. NELSON: Thank you, Neil.
YOUNG: Thank you, Willie.
(MUSIC)
[23:44:53]
W. NELSON: All right. Thank you all very much. We love you. Y'all have a great day. And thanks to all y'all farmers out there.
[23:45:00]
We need you. Keep going. Thank you.
BERMAN: Thanks to all our farmers out there. We need you. The words from Willie Nelson and Willie Nelson, we need you. Amazing. All hands on deck there at the end there. And you can just see by the way everyone was looking at Willie Nelson. The sheer reverence are performing with such a living legend.
COATES: I mean, a privilege to really watch him at 93. He said, keep going to the nation's farmers is exactly the right sentiment that we know why we're all here. And just think about that, Tom. I mean, he has done this for more than 40 years. And every minute he is on that stage, you know, tenfold, that people understand the gravitas.
TOM VILSACK, FORMER U.S. AGRICULTURE SECRETARY: They do. We get farmers made once a year. We decide every week where we get our food. And it's about making the decisions to support these farmers.
BERMAN: A lot of history. A lot of history, Doug.
DOUG HAVEMANN, CO-OWNER, MESQUITE FIELD FARM: Yes. And, you know, we've been laying off people working. U.S. Department of Agriculture. And we've been, you know, we're in a time of rural crisis in so many ways. Even rural hospitals are having trouble. And there is no America without small, you know, small town America. And the fact that we heard all the best songs from Mellencamp and Neil Young and Willie Nelson is epic.
COATES: It really is.
HAVEMANN: It was greatest hits and best hits. And everybody stayed here glued.
VILSACK: He brought us to church to bring us home.
COATES: Yes. You know, the idea that you had everyone say to me, let's look at that image of everyone surrounding him.
BERMAN: Yes.
COATES: I mean, his legacy and talking about the last leaf on the tree and that he knows what impact I think he believes he's had, but he's not doing it for himself. He's doing it as he said, to the nation's farmers. And that's what Farm Aid is all about and why it's so important.
VILSACK: It is just inspiring. Inspiring. I always feel privileged to be here.
BERMAN: You've seen a lot of Willie Nelson.
COATES: Yes.
VILSACK: Oh, yes.
BERMAN: Doug, what do you think?
HAVENMANN: A lot. I just wanted to see him. I go around the 4th of July to the picnics, and just seeing him now in this moment in time is really important to me because he is. He's it -- there are very few American performers that can live up in our history. Willie Nelson's in that rare Louis Armstrong or Bob Dolan, this rare group, and I didn't want to miss it. And people here in Virginia have just been so warm. The growers and people at the pavilions and all talking. So it's been a love fest.
And it reminds me of, like, the history of the family. Willie Nelson family, the Carter family or the, you know, in that tradition that goes on like a pageant in the Dakotas or, you know. COATES: Well, the Carters here in Virginia as well. Right. You know, you had the legacy of Virginia and what it stands for. And to see everyone there and at the very end, from everyone who performed all day long staying, making sure that they were there to honor the man, the legend, Willie Nelson.
VILSACK: I am just so glad we were here.
HAVENMANN: And that will the circle be unbroken. It's sort of the Americana anthem of, you know, of a prayer like "Amazing Grace" or something that it's always strikes a closing note that pulls people up.
COATES: I'm glad I was here with all of you.
BERMAN: I'm glad I was here with all you.
COATES: Doug, Tom, you all, John Berman, thank you all for an amazing night. And from all of us here.
BERMAN: Listen, thank you, thank you at home for joining CNN's special presentation of Farm Aid 2026. Please, scan that code on the bottom of your screen. The news continues after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
