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Nothing outshines American treasure Willie Nelson; not even the extreme amount of pyro that ignited before he wrapped his 2019 Fourth of July Picnic & Fireworks.

Nelson and Family was the finale of the day-long event at Austin, Texas’ Austin360 Amphitheater at Circuit of the Americas. The annual tradition was inaugurated in 1973 with 40,000 attendees and performances by Nelson, Earl Scruggs, Hank Snow, Sonny James, Tom T. Hall, Tex Ritter, Roy Acuff, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson.

Nelson and Family was the finale of the day-long event at Austin, Texas’ Austin360 Amphitheater at Circuit of the Americas. The annual tradition was inaugurated in 1973 with 40,000 attendees and performances by Nelson, Earl Scruggs, Hank Snow, Sonny James, Tom T. Hall, Tex Ritter, Roy Acuff, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson.

The 2019 lineup featured David Allan Coe, Billy Joe Shaver, Gene Watson, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Steve Earle & the Dukes, Jamey Johnson, Alison Krauss, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats and Luke Combs.

Enjoy scenes from Nelson’s Independence Day celebrations here.

photos for Rolling Stone by: Charles Reagan Hackleman

See more photos at www.RollingStone.com

Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic was back in Austin, Texas, on Thursday to celebrate Independence Day. Alison Krauss returned for the first time since 2016, joining Jamey Johnson, Billy Joe Shaver, Steve Earle & the Dukes, and Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, who made their Picnic debut. Luke Combs also performed at his first Picnic, delivering a powerful set of hits like “Beautiful Crazy,” “Hurricane” and his new single, “Beer Never Broke My Heart.”

Of course, it’s the Red Headed Stranger who ties it all together. The outlaw country legend offered his customary staples, from “Whiskey River” to “On the Road Again,” and also nodded to Hank Williams with “Jambalaya (On the Bayou)” and “Hey Good Lookin’.”

With roots dating back to Nelson’s first Independence Day bash in nearby Dripping Springs in 1973, the 46th installment of the Picnic marked its fifth year in its current home at Austin360 Amphitheater at the Circuit of the Americas racetrack outside Austin.

As Ray Wylie Hubbard told Rolling Stone backstage, “You know, all the people who play Willie’s Picnic, they all have an integrity of being songwriters, because Willie is such a great songwriter. But to be a performer [here] it kinda validates ya.”

See more photos from the 4th of July Picnic above.