SAN ANTONIO, Tx. (CNN/WFLA) — Beset with health issues related to his many years of smoking, country music icon Willie Nelson says he’s quit.
For Nelson, there’s nothing better than stepping out onto the stage. Still performing at age 86, he says it keeps him in shape.
“Singing out there for an hour is a good workout. Your lungs are the biggest muscle you got. So when you’re out there working, you are working out.”
After years of smoking marijuana, Nelson admits it’s taken a toll on his lungs.
“I have abused my lungs quite a bit in the past,” Nelson said. “So breathing is a little more difficult these days that I have to be careful, I’ve mistreated myself since I was this big. I started out smoking cedar bark and it went from that to cigarettes or whatever. And that almost killed me.”
It didn’t kill him, so he decided to stop smoking.
“I don’t smoke anymore. I take better care of myself today than I did then.”
