Big Names, Big Stages – Baylor’s growing concert calendar
Baylor’s growing concert calendar
With Willie Nelson’s long-awaited return to Baylor University, Waco continues to hit a high note — and the momentum is only building.
Nelson joins an ever-expanding list of A-list entertainers choosing Baylor’s venues for major live events, reinforcing the University’s and city’s position as a hub for music, comedy and large-scale entertainment in Central Texas. From intimate performances to stadium tours, Baylor’s venues are drawing national attention and delivering unforgettable experiences for the Baylor Family, the Waco community and others in the region.
This spring and summer offer a packed lineup. Waco Hall welcomed comedian John Crist on April 19, bringing stand-up comedy back to one of campus’ most historic stages. At the Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion, Texas country standout Hudson Westbrook, with special guest Tyce Delk, headlined a sell-out show on April 24.
For Family Weekend, a tradition connecting families of Baylor students with the University since 1960, six-time and reigning Academy of Country Music Vocal Group of the Year Old Dominion will headline at the Foster Pavilion.
Be on the lookout for who will take the stage on Sept. 25 at the Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center as the keystone event for Howdy at the Hurd. The event hosted by Baylor and Pi Beta Phi gives a Texas Welcome to campus with activities, food and a live concert. Rising country star Braxton Keith takes the Foster stage Oct. 2.
Back to Baylor: Willie Nelson’s Long Road Home
Seventy-two years after he stepped onto campus as a Baylor student, Willie Nelson finally returned to Baylor.
On May 14, the legendary Texas singer-songwriter returned to the University for an outdoor concert at Magnolia Field at Baylor Ballpark. This event, dubbed the Willie Nelson & Family concert, marks Nelson’s first performance on the Baylor campus.
Nelson’s Baylor story began March 9, 1954, when the University admitted a 20-year-old from Abbott, Texas, just in time for the spring term. Fresh out of the Air Force, newly married and armed with G.I. Bill benefits, Nelson enrolled with plans to pursue law — a backup, he later said, if music didn’t work out.
“I went there long enough to realize that I really wanted to play music more than I wanted to be a lawyer,” Nelson recalled in a 2001 interview with The Baylor Line.
Over the years, rumors swirled that Nelson had been “banned” from campus, stemming from the cancellation of a 1988 concert. Although no such ban ever existed, Baylor is glad to close that chapter of campus lore.
“Willie Nelson represents the Heart of Texas music and culture,” Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D, said. “We were proud to welcome him back as a member of the Baylor Family.”
This May, Baylor celebrated not just a concert, but a homecoming decades in the making.