Willie Nelson made a rare public statement on social media Tuesday to decry the growing presence of data centers in his Texas hometown.
“Let’s not allow our own demise or give up control over necessary resources in the U.S. and especially in Abbott,” the country music icon wrote on X and Instagram, expressing concern over Abbott, Texas, the rural town where he was raised and where he still has a home — one “with farmed land where I can still see stars at night.”
“And now our community, like many others, needs to fight against data centers invading our land,” Nelson’s statement continued. “The last thing we need is a loud, water thieving, light polluting data center anywhere near our town (or any others for that matter).”
He also reflected on the strength of rural America, emphasizing that it’s “never come from big industrial footprints,” but generations of families on the same land and wide open spaces.
“It comes from generations of people, open spaces, local businesses, and a connection to the land,” he wrote.
Read the post in full below:
He concluded: “All of America deserves thoughtful stewardship that doesn’t steal farmland (where our essential shared-food is grown) and small family farmers’ livelihoods, and not data centers that only destroy the environment around them,” he said. “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.”
Nelson’s missive came as data centers continue moving into rural Texas for a combination of cheap land, abundant electricity, tax incentives and growing demand from AI companies. What used to be primarily farmland or ranchland is increasingly being developed into massive computing campuses and upending the tranquility and marriage to nature that’s come to define the American West.
