Willie Nelson Bus Crash Injures Band Members, Disrupts Tour

PHILADELPHIA, PA - MAY 27: Willie Nelson performs at Willie Nelson's Country Throwdown at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts on May 27, 2011 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Fusco/Getty Images)
Photo: Jeff Fusco/2011 Jeff Fusco

Willie Nelson has put his current tour on hiatus as three of his band members nurse injuries after their bus crashed in Texas early Saturday morning. Nelson wasn’t on board (this is the band’s bus, not his) when the bus hit the pillar of a bridge at about 3:30 a.m., some 80 miles east of Dallas. A band statement said the road was icy, and a state trooper told the New York Daily News the driver was battling wet and windy conditions. Drummer Paul English broke his hip, while Billy English and Thomas Ray Hawkins sustained minor injuries, CNN reported. At least the next four shows have been canceled, per TMZ, though the Daily News is saying the tour has been suspended indefinitely.

Willie Nelson Bus Crash Injures Band Members