Country legend Willie Nelson joins growing opposition to AI data centre expansion in Texas

Willie Nelson has a new fight on his hands, and this time it's not about music rights or marijuana laws — it's about his hometown's skyline. The 93-year-old country music icon took to social media Tuesday with an impassioned open letter opposing the spread of AI-powered data centres near Abbott, Texas, the tiny Hill County town where he was born, raised, and still keeps a home and farmland.

Willie Nelson opposes AI data centres near his Texas hometown

“I grew up in Abbott, and I still have a home there with farmed land where I can still see stars at night,” Willie wrote. “And now our community, like many others, needs to fight against data centres invading our land.” Abbott is a small-town in Texas, but its low profile hasn’t spared it from the tech industry’s massive infrastructure buildout. Willie’s statement comes as the Texas Tribune has tracked as many as 56 proposed data centre projects across Central Texas alone, part of a statewide total nearing 250.

Willie didn’t call out a specific project by name, but reporting has pointed to a planned Nexus Data Centers campus roughly 25 miles from Abbott in nearby Hubbard as a likely flashpoint. The Grammy winner didn’t hold back on his objections. He described the facilities in blunt terms, warning against a “loud, water thieving, light polluting” data centre landing “anywhere near our town (or any others for that matter).” His argument leaned into a theme that's defined much of his career: that rural America's real strength comes from its people and land, not industrial expansion.

“The strength of rural America has never come from big industrial footprints,” he wrote. “It comes from generations of people, open spaces, local businesses and a connection to the land.” It’s a natural extension of Willie’s long track record as an advocate for small farmers. He co-founded Farm Aid back in 1985, and has spent decades using his platform to push back against threats to family-owned agricultural land — from corporate consolidation to, now, server farms.
As of now, it’s unclear whether any construction near Abbott has been formally approved, or whether Willie’s letter will translate into organised local opposition. But if his history with Farm Aid is any indication, this likely won't be the last anyone hears from him on the subject.

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