Stardust is the 22nd studio album by Willie Nelson, released in April 1978. Its ten songs consist entirely of pop standards that Nelson picked from among his favorites. Nelson asked Booker T. Jones, who was his neighbor in Malibu at the time, to arrange a version of “Moonlight in Vermont”. Impressed with Jones’s work, Nelson asked him to produce the entire album. Nelson’s decision to record such well-known tracks was controversial among Columbia executives because he had distinguished himself in the outlaw country genre. Recording the album took only ten days.
Stardust was met with high sales and near-universal positive reviews. It peaked at number 1 in Billboard’s Top Country Albums and number 30 in the Billboard 200. Meanwhile, it charted at number 1 in Canadian RPM’s Country Albums and number 28 in RPM’s Top Albums. The singles “Blue Skies” and “All of Me” peaked, respectively, at numbers one and three in Billboard’s Hot Country Singles.
In 1979, Nelson won a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for the song “Georgia on My Mind”. Stardust was on the Billboard’s Country Album charts for ten years—from its release until 1988. The album also reached number one in New Zealand and number five in Australia in 1980. In 2012, the album was ranked number 260 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It was originally certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in December 1978. In 1984, when it was certified triple platinum, Nelson was the highest-grossing concert act in the United States. By 2002, the album was certified quintuple platinum, and it was later inducted into the 2015 Grammy Hall of Fame class.
- “Stardust” 3:53
- “Georgia on My Mind” 4:20
- “Blue Skies” 3:34
- “All of Me” 3:54
- “Unchained Melody” 3:50
- “September Song” 4:35
- “On the Sunny Side of the Street” 2:36
- “Moonlight in Vermont” 3:25
- “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” 2:33
- “Someone to Watch Over Me” 4:03
- “Scarlet Ribbons” 4:30
- “I Can See Clearly Now” 4:18
Willie Nelson – vocals, guitar
Bobbie Nelson – piano
Paul English – drums
Rex Ludwick – drums
Jody Payne – guitar
Bee Spears – bass
Chris Ethridge – bass
Mickey Raphael – harmonica
Booker T. Jones – organ, piano
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