Watch Jimmy Carter Sing ‘Amazing Grace’ With Willie Nelson

Today is the national day of mourning for the 39th president of the United States, Jimmy Carter, who died in his native Plains, Georgia on December 29, 2024 at 100. Jimmy Carter was the longest-living president in U.S. history.

Dubbed “America’s first Rock ‘n’ Roll President,” Carter was associated with many musical acts. He was a longtime friend of Willie Nelson, with whom he often performed, including a memorable sit-in on “Amazing Grace” in 2012. Jimmy Carter was also a persistent proponent for peace.

Followng his service in the U.S. Navy and tending the family peanut farm in Plains, Georgia, Carter dedicated his life not only to public service but perhaps most importantly to achieving peace throughout the world. Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development,” as posted on NobelPrize.org.

As per NobelPrize.org:

While the President of the United States, George W. Bush, was planning war on Iraq in the autumn of 2002, former President Jimmy Carter was awarded the Peace Prize for undertaking peace negotiations, campaigning for human rights, and working for social welfare. According to the Chairman of the Nobel Committee, Carter ought to have been awarded the Prize as early as in 1978, when he successfully mediated a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel.

Carter was also a renowned music fan. Some of his favorite acts included fellow Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan, fellow Georgia legends The Allman Brothers Band and Willie Nelson. Carter joined the latter to sing “Amazing Grace” in 2012.

On June 15, 2012, Willie and company performed at the Chastain Amphitheater in Atlanta. Nelson often delivers spiritual tunes toward the end of his concerts and performed “Amazing Grace” with the former president in Atlanta.

Carter shared a mic with Willie — flanked by renowned singer-songwriter Jamey Johnson, Nelson’s longtime harmonica player Mickey Raphael and others — as they navigated the song’s numerous stanzas. Jimmy even donned one of Willie’s iconic headbands. The former first lady, Rosalynn Carter, who passed away in 2023 at 96, made an appearance as well.

Watch three different angles of Willie Nelson’s “Amazing Grace” performance with Jimmy Carter below:

While Carter once joked that he didn’t play an instrument, he played the stereo, the former president showed off some pretty mean harmonica chops with Willie Nelson in 2008. The song was fittingly, “Georgia on My Mind.” While the video quality isn’t great, Jimmy’s harp playing shines through. Check out that performance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqG4X1p5sVc&ab

Nelson and Carter were longtime friends and the former even visited the latter while Carter was in the White House. As legend has it, Willie somehow managed to get to the roof of the presidential residence and smoked a joint, something he told Conan O’Brien he “hoped” had happened. Watch: