| Workin' Man | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 7, 2025 | |||
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| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 39:01 | |||
| Label | Legacy | |||
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| Willie Nelson chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Workin' Man | ||||
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Workin' Man: Willie Sings Merle is the 78th solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Willie Nelson. It was released on November 7, 2025, through Legacy Recordings. Produced by Nelson and Mickey Raphael, the album contains eleven songs by Nelson's late frequent collaborator Merle Haggard.
Nelson had recorded four studio duet albums with Haggard, from the 1983 Pancho & Lefty (which yielded a #1 hit with the title track) to Haggard's final studio album Django and Jimmie in 2015. This album includes Nelson's last recordings with Bobbie Nelson and Paul English, both long-serving members of his Family Band.
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 84/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    |
| Robert Christgau | A |
Workin' Man received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a score of 84 out of 100 based on four reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
Mark Deming at AllMusic praised the performances of Nelson and the band's "in the moment" approach to the performances (including studio chatter and ad-libs) but noted that Nelson chose to interpret Haggard's most familiar songs.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Workin' Man Blues" | Merle Haggard | 5:15 |
| 2. | "Silver Wings" | Haggard | 5:58 |
| 3. | "Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down" | Haggard | 2:47 |
| 4. | "Today I Started Loving You Again" |
| 3:24 |
| 5. | "Swinging Doors" | Haggard | 2:52 |
| 6. | "Okie from Muskogee" |
| 2:49 |
| 7. | "Mama Tried" | Haggard | 2:18 |
| 8. | "I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink" | Haggard | 3:30 |
| 9. | "Somewhere Between" |
| 3:03 |
| 10. | "If We Make It Through December" | Haggard | 3:30 |
| 11. | "Ramblin' Fever" | Haggard | 3:35 |
| Total length: | 39:01 | ||
Credits adapted from Tidal.
| Chart (2025) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Croatian International Albums (HDU) | 14 |
| Scottish Albums (Official Charts) | 99 |
| UK Americana Albums (Official Charts) | 22 |
| UK Country Albums (Official Charts) | 1 |
| US Top Album Sales (Billboard) | 44 |
