Who know that a piece of history could've been one of the last times we heard from Charley Crockett? Recently, he appeared on the Joe Rogan Podcast, where he talked about everything from his southern Texas upbringing to his independent artistry. However, one moment firmly roots him in country history. One of Willie Nelson's old tour buses, the 'Red Headed Stranger,' was placed for sale after some trouble with the IRS back in the day. Eventually, Crockett sees it and he obviously treasures the history of it. Consequently, he purchases it and uses it for one of his own tours.
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Charley absolutely got his value back from it and then some. However, one moment in his time with the bus sees the country singer almost die in the back of the bus.
Charley Crockett Nearly Dies in The Back of Willie Nelson's Old Tour Bus
"I'll just say this, I almost died in the back of that bus. Here I am at 30-something years, in my early '30s, my arrhythmia is out, it's going out, and it's getting harder and harder to get back in. To shock it back into normal rhythm. I just kept ignoring it, because somebody told me in South Texas in the 80's not to worry about it," Charley explains.
"Anyway, it turned out that my heart enlarged... I had to get surgery. The long, round about point that I'm making to you about medical industry that I learned the hard way, man, is no one's advocating for you. Only you," Charley continues. "You have to be your own advocate. They don't give a f***, you know. They don't. Like they were just gonna automatically put a mechanical valve in my heart. automatically. Didn't present any other options, anything."
Although the story seems really dour, Charley does take a moment to joke about the whole thing. Apparently, the bus driver went to shoddy lengths to try and save him from dying. "I just got lucky man," Crockett says. "There was this lady driving us back then that was holding séances and burning sage over the top of me while I was laying in the back of that bus like that was gonna heal me. That s*** didn't work and she doesn't drive me anymore. Get yourself a good bus driver. You have to get a good bus driver or you'll never get good sleep."
