Auckland-based singer-songwriter Tami Neilson has hit a new high, releasing a duet with the legendary musician Willie Nelson.
Neilson's mournful new song "Beyond the Stars" became available around the globe on streaming services yesterday and will feature on her fifth album Kingmaker - to be released in July.
After the death of her father in 2015, Neilson wrote the song to express the grief she was feeling. One of her saddest moments became the catalyst for a musical journey she described as nerve-wracking and exhilarating.
Your messages of love for Beyond the Stars and your shared grief have been truly overwhelming. Just so you know, I’ve heard it a million times the last 6 months and still weep. This is my reaction the first time I heard it with Willie’s vocals. I still “can’t deal!” 🥲♥️💫 pic.twitter.com/V4QmEyjZKb
Meanwhile, Willie Nelson, had his own grieving process to endure, after the death of his sister, Bobbie Nelson.
A video posted on Twitter by Neilson shows the singer reacting to hearing the finished duet for the first time in her living room in October last year during the Auckland lockdown.
"We [Neilson and co-writer Delaney Davidson] wrote it for our dads who are both gone now," an emotional Neilson says in the video.
"I just can't imagine what their reaction would be right now.
