Martha Matthews was the first wife of country music legend Willie Nelson, but their marriage happened long before he became the famous braided-haired singer behind songs such as “On the Road Again.” Martha married Willie in 1952, when he was still struggling to build a career, and they became parents to three children: Lana, Susie, and Willie “Billy” Hugh Nelson Jr.
Their relationship lasted about a decade and was far from peaceful. Willie later spoke openly about arguments, drinking, financial problems, and physical conflict during the marriage. When they divorced in 1962, Willie was only beginning to establish himself in country music.
Martha later remarried and had more children, building a life that existed mostly outside Willie’s growing fame. She died in Texas in 1989 at only 53 years old.
Who Was Martha Matthews Before Willie Nelson Became Famous?
Martha’s full name is recorded as Martha Jewel Matthews, with some records spelling the surname Mathews.
She was born on April 3, 1936, in Corsicana, Texas. An obituary-derived genealogical record says she attended school in Waco, Texas, was Methodist, and later lived in Waco.
That means Martha was still very young when she became involved with Willie.
Willie was born in 1933 in Abbott, Texas. He had been raised largely by his grandparents and developed an interest in music as a child.
But when Martha entered his life, he was nowhere close to becoming the country music institution people know today.
He was a young Texan trying to make a living while figuring out whether music could become a real career.
How Old Was Martha Matthews When She Married Willie Nelson?
IMDb records Martha’s birth as April 3, 1936 and the couple’s wedding date as October 27, 1952.
If those dates are correct, Martha was only 16 years old when she married Willie.
Willie was 19.
Their young ages provide important context for understanding what followed.
They were not an established celebrity couple with money, managers, expensive homes, and professional support.
They were extremely young people trying to build an adult life while Willie chased an uncertain career in music.
What Was Willie Nelson Doing When He Married Martha?
Willie had already developed musical ambitions, but success was still far away.
After finishing high school, he briefly served in the U.S. Air Force before receiving a medical discharge because of back problems. He returned to Texas and married Martha in 1952.
During these years, Willie worked many ordinary jobs.
He worked as a tree trimmer.
He sold items door to door.
He worked as a disc jockey.
He performed in clubs.
He even attended Baylor University for a period before leaving school to pursue music more seriously.
Martha therefore experienced a very different Willie Nelson from the wealthy, internationally famous performer later generations would know.
A useful related article would be Willie Nelson’s life before fame and the jobs he worked before becoming a country legend.
How Long Were Martha Matthews and Willie Nelson Married?
Martha and Willie were married from 1952 until 1962.
Their marriage lasted approximately ten years.
Those ten years covered one of the most unstable periods of Willie’s career.
The family moved around.
Willie searched for radio work.
He performed wherever opportunities appeared.
Money was often difficult.
He was trying to sell songs while also supporting a growing family.
By the end of the marriage, however, his professional future was beginning to look different.
In 1962—the same year their marriage ended—Willie released his first studio album.
Martha had therefore been with him through much of the difficult period before his recording career properly began.
How Many Children Did Martha Matthews and Willie Nelson Have?
Martha and Willie had three children together:
Lana Nelson, Susie Nelson, and Willie “Billy” Hugh Nelson Jr.
These were Willie’s first three children within his first marriage.
His family later became much larger.
Willie had children from other relationships and marriages, and current biographies identify him as the father of eight children overall.
But Lana, Susie, and Billy belonged to the earliest chapter of his family life—the years before fame transformed almost everything around him.
Who Is Lana Nelson?
Lana is Martha and Willie’s oldest daughter.
Genealogical records give her birth date as November 11, 1953.
Unlike some of Willie’s younger children, Lana did not build her public identity around becoming a major recording artist.
However, she has remained connected with the Nelson family and has appeared in projects related to her father.
She experienced Willie’s life from a perspective his younger children could not.
Her childhood came before the huge tours, famous albums, Farm Aid, Hollywood appearances, and the iconic image that eventually surrounded him.
Who Is Susie Nelson?
Susie is Martha and Willie’s second daughter.
Genealogical records list her birth as May 23, 1956.
Susie later wrote about life inside the Nelson family and remained associated with her father’s musical world.
Like Lana, she knew Willie before the legend fully existed.
That distinction matters.
For Martha’s children, Willie Nelson was not originally an American music icon.
He was simply their father—a musician who was often working, traveling, performing, and trying to earn enough money to continue chasing his career.
Who Was Billy Nelson?
Martha and Willie’s son was Willie Hugh Nelson Jr., commonly called Billy.
IMDb records Billy as born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1958. He later became involved in music and was working on gospel material with his father.
Tragically, Billy died in December 1991.
His death came about two years after Martha’s death.
Billy had been collaborating with Willie on gospel music, and Willie later completed and released Peace in the Valley in 1994.
Billy’s death became one of the most painful events in the Nelson family’s history.
A natural internal-link opportunity would be Willie Nelson’s children and the different paths they took in music and private life.
Was Martha Matthews and Willie Nelson’s Marriage Difficult?
Yes.
Willie’s own accounts and later biographies make clear that the marriage was extremely turbulent.
The relationship involved arguments and physical confrontations. Willie’s biographies describe incidents in which Martha physically attacked him.
At the same time, it would be misleading to tell their story as though all of the problems came from one person.
Willie has been unusually open about his own flaws in relationships.
He has discussed drinking, infidelity, instability, and the difficulties his partners experienced while living with him. In later reflections, he acknowledged the pain he caused past partners rather than presenting himself as an innocent participant in his failed marriages.
Their relationship appears to have been unhealthy on multiple levels.
Did Martha Really Sew Willie Nelson Into a Bedsheet?
This is one of the most famous stories about their marriage.
According to accounts attributed to Willie, he once came home drunk and passed out.
Martha reportedly sewed him inside a bedsheet and struck him with a broom. IMDb repeats the story in Willie’s biographical trivia, while other biographies also describe the incident.
The story has become almost legendary because Willie has often told difficult experiences with humor.
But underneath the humorous retelling was a troubled relationship involving physical conflict.
It is better understood as evidence of how unhealthy the marriage had become rather than simply as a funny celebrity anecdote.
Why Did Martha Matthews and Willie Nelson Divorce?
There does not appear to be one single publicly documented event that explains the entire divorce.
Their marriage had been unstable for years.
Willie’s lifestyle was difficult.
He drank heavily during parts of his early life.
His career required travel and irregular work.
Money was uncertain.
And the marriage involved serious conflict.
The couple finally divorced in 1962, after roughly ten years together.
The Los Angeles Times, discussing Willie’s later relationships, reported that he left Martha for country singer Shirley Collie.
Whatever the precise combination of causes, by 1962 their relationship had reached its end.
Did Willie Nelson Remarry After Martha?
Yes, very quickly.
Willie married country singer Shirley Collie in 1963, about a year after his marriage to Martha ended.
That marriage lasted until 1971.
He later married Connie Koepke and eventually Annie D’Angelo.
Willie has been married four times in total.
Martha therefore represents the beginning of a complicated romantic history that Willie himself has repeatedly discussed with unusual openness.
A useful related article would be Willie Nelson’s four wives and what happened in each of his marriages.
Did Martha Matthews Remarry After Willie Nelson?
Yes.
This part of Martha’s life is much less widely discussed.
IMDb identifies two later husbands: Mickey Scott and Charlie Andrews. It also says Martha had two children with each of those relationships.
An obituary-derived record provides additional information.
At the time of Martha’s death, her surviving children were listed as daughters Lana Nelson and Susie Nelson, sons Billy Nelson, Mike Scott, Brandon Scott, David Andrews, and Charlie Andrews.
That indicates Martha ultimately became the mother of seven children.
Three came from her marriage to Willie.
Four came from later relationships.
This is an important part of her biography because her life did not simply stop when her marriage to Willie ended.
What Happened to Martha After Her Divorce?
Martha largely disappeared from celebrity coverage.
That makes sense because Willie was not yet the enormous star he would later become when they divorced.
She went on with her life in Texas.
She remarried.
She raised additional children.
And unlike Willie, she did not build a career that required constant public attention.
By the time Willie became one of country music’s biggest names in the 1970s, Martha had already been separated from him for many years.
Her identity in everyday life was therefore probably much broader than “Willie Nelson’s ex-wife,” even though that is how most people discover her today.
Did Martha See Willie Nelson Become Famous?
Yes.
Martha lived until 1989.
That means she witnessed Willie’s transformation from struggling Texas musician into one of the biggest names in American country music.
His career grew dramatically after their divorce.
He became a successful songwriter.
Songs he wrote became hits for other performers.
Later, he developed the distinctive sound associated with the outlaw-country movement.
Albums such as Red Headed Stranger turned him into a major recording star.
He became instantly recognizable for his voice, guitar, long hair, and braids.
By the 1980s, Willie was far removed from the young musician Martha had married in 1952.
She had seen the beginning.
But she was no longer his wife when the biggest success arrived.
Was Martha Matthews a Singer?
There is no reliable evidence that Martha built a professional singing or recording career.
This distinction matters because Willie’s second wife, Shirley Collie, was a country singer.
Martha is sometimes described online in ways that blur details from Willie’s different marriages.
The strongest biographical records identify Martha primarily through her family life rather than an entertainment career.
Another reference has described her as having worked as a waitress, but detailed employment records from her life are limited.
It is safer to say that her professional life is not well documented.
What Was Martha Matthews’ Real Name?
Her name appears with slightly different spellings.
IMDb records her birth name as Martha Jewel Mathews, using one “t” in Mathews.
Other records use Martha Jewel Matthews.
This kind of spelling difference is common in older public and genealogical records.
Most modern biographies use “Martha Matthews,” which is also the form most closely associated with Willie Nelson.
When Did Martha Matthews Die?
Martha died on November 29, 1989, in Austin, Texas.
She was 53 years old.
IMDb lists the cause as liver failure.
An obituary-derived family record identifies her at the time of death as Martha Mathews Scott and says she was living in Waco, Texas.
She left behind a large family.
The same record lists seven children and eight grandchildren among her survivors.
Did Martha Die Before Her Son Billy?
Yes.
Martha died in November 1989.
Billy died in December 1991.
So Martha did not live through the loss of her son.
Billy was only in his early 30s when he died.
For Willie and the rest of the family, his death came after they had already lost Martha relatively young.
How Old Was Willie Nelson When Martha Died?
Willie was 56 years old when Martha died in 1989.
By then, his life looked completely different from the years they had shared.
He had become an internationally recognized performer.
He had been married multiple times.
He had starred in movies.
He had helped launch Farm Aid.
And his songs had become part of American popular culture.
Martha’s death therefore closed a connection to the earliest and most difficult chapter of his adult life.
Did Martha Matthews Have a Net Worth?
There is no reliable evidence supporting a specific net-worth figure for Martha.
Websites that assign exact financial amounts to her generally do not provide meaningful documentation.
She divorced Willie years before the biggest commercial period of his career.
She later remarried and lived a mostly private life.
Without reliable records showing her income, property, inheritance, investments, or divorce settlement, an exact number would be speculation.
Her story is better understood through her family and her place in Willie’s early life than through an invented financial estimate.
Why Is Martha Matthews Important to Willie Nelson’s Story?
Because she knew him before almost everyone else knew his name.
She was there before Red Headed Stranger.
Before “Always on My Mind.”
Before “On the Road Again.”
Before the Highwaymen.
Before Farm Aid.
Before Trigger became one of the most recognizable guitars in music.
Martha lived with Willie when music was still a gamble.
They raised children while he moved between ordinary jobs, radio stations, bars, and small performance opportunities.
Their marriage eventually failed badly.
But those years remain part of the story that came before the legend.
Interesting Facts About Martha Matthews
Martha Jewel Matthews was born in Corsicana, Texas, on April 3, 1936, and attended school in Waco.
She married Willie Nelson in 1952, when both were still teenagers.
They had three children together: Lana, Susie, and Billy.
Their marriage lasted approximately ten years and ended in 1962.
Martha later married again and had four more children, making her the mother of seven according to obituary and biographical records.
She died in Austin, Texas, on November 29, 1989, at age 53.
Her son Billy died about two years later in 1991.
Why Should Martha’s Story Be Told Carefully?
Martha’s biography presents an unusual problem.
Much of what the public knows about her comes through Willie.
Willie became enormously famous.
Martha did not.
That means his memories have naturally received far more attention than her perspective.
Stories about their arguments are repeated in books and biographies, including the famous bedsheet-and-broom incident.
Those stories are relevant.
But they should not become Martha’s entire identity.
She was married to Willie for ten years.
She was also a mother.
She raised seven children across her lifetime according to surviving records.
She remarried.
She lived for another 27 years after divorcing Willie.
And she died before the internet era made every detail of celebrity-connected lives searchable.
Her privacy should therefore be treated as missing information, not as permission to invent information.
Final Thoughts
Martha Matthews belonged to a version of Willie Nelson’s life that looked nothing like the one fans recognize today.
When they married in 1952, Willie was not a country legend.
He was 19 years old.
Martha appears to have been only 16.
There were no giant tours.
No iconic braids.
No famous bus.
No Farm Aid.
No enormous catalog of classic songs.
There was simply a young couple trying to build a family while Willie tried to turn music into a living.
Three children followed: Lana, Susie, and Billy.
But the marriage became deeply troubled.
There were financial pressures, drinking, arguments, instability, and physical conflict. Willie later acknowledged that his own behavior made his relationships difficult and expressed regret over the pain he caused people in his personal life.
By 1962, the marriage was over.
Willie moved into another chapter.
So did Martha.
She remarried, had more children, and largely disappeared from the public story that grew around her former husband.
Then Willie became famous.
Very famous.
The struggling musician Martha had known became one of the defining figures in country music.
Yet Martha’s life continued mostly outside that spotlight.
She died in Texas in 1989, aged only 53, leaving behind seven children and eight grandchildren according to an obituary-derived family record.
Her story should not be romanticized.
The marriage was clearly troubled.
It also should not be reduced to one sensational story about a bedsheet and a broom.
Martha Matthews was the woman who shared Willie Nelson’s earliest adult years, became the mother of his first three children, and lived through the uncertain period before anyone knew that the young Texas musician would eventually become an American music icon.
That makes her an important part of Willie Nelson’s story—even though most of her own life happened far away from the stage.
For more carefully researched celebrity biographies and family stories, visit Charles Magazine.
FAQs About Martha Matthews
Who was Martha Matthews?
Martha Matthews was Willie Nelson’s first wife. They married in 1952, had three children together, and divorced in 1962.
When was Martha Matthews born?
Records identify Martha Jewel Matthews as born on April 3, 1936, in Corsicana, Texas.
How old was Martha when she married Willie Nelson?
Based on the commonly documented birth and marriage dates, Martha was about 16 and Willie was 19 when they married in October 1952.
How many children did Martha Matthews have with Willie Nelson?
Martha and Willie had three children: Lana Nelson, Susie Nelson, and Willie “Billy” Hugh Nelson Jr.
Why did Martha and Willie Nelson divorce?
Their marriage was turbulent and involved serious conflict. Willie’s lifestyle, drinking, career instability, and relationship problems also formed part of the difficult period. They divorced in 1962 after approximately ten years of marriage.
Did Martha Matthews remarry?
Yes. IMDb identifies Mickey Scott and Charlie Andrews as later spouses. Obituary records indicate she had four additional children after her three children with Willie.
When did Martha Matthews die?
Martha died on November 29, 1989, in Austin, Texas, at age 53. IMDb lists liver failure as the cause of death.
Is Martha Matthews still alive?
No. She died in 1989, more than three decades ago. Her former husband Willie Nelson was still actively recording and performing in 2026.
