Texas Business reports: NEW YORK—Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, entered into a historic new record deal with Texas musician Willie Nelson. 

The deal marks a label homecoming for Nelson, who, from 1975-1993, cut a string of top-selling singles and albums for Columbia Records, beginning with 1975's seminal smash Red Headed Stranger.

Forthcoming Willie Nelson titles under the Legacy imprint will include newly recorded songs and performances as well as archival releases, personally curated by the artist, drawn from all phases of his career including his recordings for RCA Records and others.

As curator of his catalog, Willie will work with label archivists to select recordings, including previously released and previously unreleased tracks, for release in newly compiled collections and as bonus material on new editions of existing titles. The newly curated Willie Nelson titles will provide fresh perspective and context to the artist's profoundly influential and successful career.

Under the new agreement, fans can look forward to five brand-new Willie Nelson albums, with the first slated for release in spring 2012.

“I'm really happy to be back home with Sony Music,” Nelson said in a prepared statement.
“We have been partners for many years; all the way back to Pamper Music and Tree Music.  We share a great history, and I'm looking forward to many more years together.”

“We couldn't be more excited to have the opportunity to work with Willie on this landmark partnership,” said Legacy Recordings general manager Adam Block in a prepared statement. “There's a natural and organic relationship between new recording projects and catalog activity that promises to ensure the lasting importance of Willie and his music.”

With a six-decade career and a catalog of more than 200 albums to his credit, the iconic Texas singer-songwriter Willie Nelson earned a permanent position in pop music's pantheon with songs that combine the style of Tin Pan Alley with the rough-and-tumble grit of country music. 

He merged pop and country on the radio in the early 1960s with songs like "Crazy" (Patsy Cline), "Hello Walls" (Faron Young), "Funny How Time Slips Away" (Billy Walker), "Night Life" (Ray Price) and others and, by the mid-1970s, had become a superstar in his own right as a prime mover of a revolutionary and thriving outlaw country music scene.  The Red Headed Stranger, Willie's first album for Columbia Records in 1975, catapulted the artist to the front ranks of popularity, making his a familiar name in country and city households across America and around-the-world.

A seven-time Grammy Award winner, Willie Nelson has received numerous awards including American Music Awards, Academy of Country Music Awards, Country Music Association Awards and others.  He is a co-founder of Farm Aid, an annual series of fundraising events which began as an all-star benefit concert in 1985 to raise money for American family farmers.  He continues to lobby against horse slaughter and produces his own blend of biodiesel fuel.  Willie plays concerts year-round, touring on Honeysuckle Rose III (his third touring bus).