Willie Nelson has come out strong against data centers, publishing an opening letter on July 28th that said communities need to fight against the environmentally destructive server warehouses.
The country music icon posted his letter on social media, telling people that he grew up in Abbott, Texas, has a home there with farmed land “ where I can still see stars at night.” He then gave his protest against data centers. “Our community, like many others, needs to fight against data centers invading our land,” Nelson wrote. “The last thing we need is a loud, water thieving, light polluting, data center anywhere near our town (or any others for that matter).”
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A founder of Farm Aid, which celebrated 40 years in 2025, Nelson rallied for rural America and small farms in his letter, saying, “The strength of rural America has never come from big industrial footprints. It comes from generations of people, open spaces, local businesses, and a connection to the land.”
America deserves “thoughtful stewardship” that doesn’t steal farmland and small family farmers’ livelihoods “and not data centers that only destroy the environment around them,” Nelson said.
He ended his letter with a call for the kind of thoughtful stewardship he opined on and against corporate control of lands. “Whoever controls food and water, controls the masses. Let’s not allow our own demise or give up control over necessary resources in the U.S. and especially in Abbott.”
Data centers are a growing concern in the U.S., with opponents pointing to their massive consumption of water, land and energy to power AI and enrich tech billionaires. Numerous municipalities and states have banned or halted the building of data centers with Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott recently calling for a block on such server warehouses in rural parts of the state.
Nelson put out his 79th solo studio LP, Dream Chaser, in May. Farm Aid is on September 26th in Virginia Beach. Nelson is also touring throughout the summer as part of the Outlaw Country Festival Tour.
To whom it may concern and to everyone else as well, pic.twitter.com/GQxuxUj3ie
— Willie Nelson (@WillieNelson) July 28, 2026
