Lukas Nelson Reveals if Dad Willie Nelson Was ‘Heartbroken’ When He Stopped Smoking Weed

Willie Nelson had a very on-brand reaction when his son Lukas Nelson decided to quit smoking weed.

During a Tuesday, June 24 appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Lukas, 36, opened up about how his legendary father responded when he told him he’d stopped using marijuana. Naturally, Stern couldn’t resist the setup.

“Was your dad heartbroken?” the host joked. “No one loves weed more than your dad.”

Lukas laughed off the question but acknowledged the moment carried more meaning than humor. He explained that he quit smoking around the pandemic and, for a time, felt it created a subtle distance—not just with his father, but with members of his longtime band.

Still, Lukas emphasized that Willie, of all people, ultimately respected the decision.

“At a certain point, my father respects individuality more than anything,” he said. “The biggest lie I ever believed was that you’re supposed to make the same mistakes your heroes make.”

Lukas reflected on growing up idolizing musicians like Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan, both of whom struggled with substance use. Over time, he realized that honoring his influences didn’t mean repeating their personal struggles.

The conversation comes just weeks after Willie, 92, shared that he can no longer smoke weed himself. In a June 7 interview with Forbes, the country icon explained that his lungs have put their foot down.

“My lungs said, ‘Don’t do that,’” Willie said, adding that he now sticks mostly to edibles.

Willie previously quit smoking cigarettes in 2019, though his publicist clarified at the time that he hadn’t given up marijuana entirely.

Elsewhere in the Stern interview, Lukas spoke candidly about his drive to make his father proud—not by leaning on the Nelson name, but by building something on his own.

“I wanted to make my dad proud by being completely self-sufficient,” Lukas said. He recalled putting 70,000 miles on a 1991 Econoline van with his band Promise of the Real, playing nearly 250 shows a year for over a decade.

“That’s something I feel like I earned,” he said. “And I think that’s what makes my mom and dad the most proud.”

Lukas also shared how music became the bridge between him and his often-absent father during childhood.

“My dad would leave a lot when I was young, and I figured if I learned to be a great musician, we’d be bonded forever,” he said. “It wasn’t about being better than him—it was about speaking the same language.”