The Highwaymen were an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

supergroup, composed of four of country music's biggest artists who pioneered the outlaw country

subgenre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his c ...

Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music. Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and ''Stardust'' (1978 ...

, and

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are " Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", " Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and " Help Me Make It Through the ...

. Between 1985 and 1995, the group recorded three major label albums as The Highwaymen: two on

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

and one for

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revival ...

. Their Columbia works produced three chart singles, including the number one "

Highwayman A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to fo ...

" in 1985. Between 1996 and 1999, Nelson, Kristofferson, Cash, and Jennings provided the voice and dramatization for the ''Louis L'Amour Collection'', a four-CD box set of seven

Louis L'Amour Louis Dearborn L'Amour (; né LaMoore; March 22, 1908 – June 10, 1988) was an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels (though he called his work "frontier stories"); however, he also wrote hi ...

stories published by the HighBridge Company, although the four were not credited as "The Highwaymen" in this work. Besides the four formal members of the group, one other vocal artist appeared on a Highwaymen recording: Johnny Rodriguez, who provided Spanish vocal on " Deportee", a

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspire ...

composition, from the album ''Highwayman''. The four starred in one movie together: the 1986 film ''Stagecoach''. In 1990, the original members of the 1950s-'60s folk group of the same name sued The Highwaymen over their use of the name, which was inspired by a

Jimmy Webb Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He has written numerous platinum-selling songs, including " Up, Up and Away", " By the Time I Get to Phoenix", " MacArthur Park", " Wichita Lineman", " Wo ...

ballad the country stars had recorded. The suit was dropped when all parties agreed that the folk group owned the name but that the earlier group would grant a nonexclusive, nontransferable license to the supergroup to use the name. The two groups then shared the stage at a 1990 concert in Hollywood.

Albums

''Highwayman''

Formed in 1985, the group did not have an official name when they released their first two albums on

. The first album, ''

'', was credited to "Nelson, Jennings, Cash, Kristofferson". The single "Highwayman", a

composition, became a #1 country hit. Their cover of

Guy Clark Guy Charles Clark (November 6, 1941 – May 17, 2016) was an American folk and country singer-songwriter and luthier. He released more than 20 albums, and his songs have been recorded by other artists, including Jerry Jeff Walker, Jimmy Buffet ...

's "Desperados Waiting for a Train" reached the Top 20. The album was produced by

Chips Moman Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman (June 12, 1937 – June 13, 2016) was an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is known for working in R&B, pop music and country music, operating American Sound Studios and producing hit albums li ...

''Highwayman 2''

In 1990, the 4 members reunited for a second effort, titled '' Highwayman 2'', which reached #4 on the country album chart. The

Lee Clayton Lee Clayton (born Billy Schatz; October 29, 1942June 12, 2023) was an American songwriter and musician. He notably wrote Waylon Jennings' 1972 outlaw country song "Ladies Love Outlaws". Biography Clayton grew up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and ...

-penned song " Silver Stallion" was the first single and made the country Top 40. The album was nominated for a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for Best Country Vocal Collaboration. ''Highwayman 2'' was produced, once again, by Moman. Six of the songs were written or co-written by members of the group.

''The Road Goes on Forever''

The group's final release (now listed as "Highway''men''") prior to Jennings's death in 2002 was 1995's

Don Was Don Edward Fagenson (born September 13, 1952), known professionally as Don Was, is an American musician, record producer and record executive. Primarily a bass player, Was co-founded the funk-rock band Was (Not Was). In later years he produced so ...

-produced album '' The Road Goes on Forever'', (a Robert Earl Keen cover), with the single, "It Is What It Is". A tenth-anniversary edition of ''The Road Goes on Forever'' appeared in 2005, with several

bonus track An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

s added as well as, in some versions, a DVD containing the video for "It Is What It Is" and a documentary titled ''Live Forever – In the Studio with the Highwaymen''. The band continued to tour into the late 1990s, before Jennings and Cash both started to decline in health, which prevented them from maintaining a full touring schedule. All four continued to perform as solo artists, with Jennings briefly joining Old Dogs; Jennings died in 2002 and Cash died in 2003. "Those tours and the records we made were a great time," recalled Kristofferson in 2010. "I just wish I was more aware of how lucky I was to share a stage with those people. I had no idea that two of them would be done so soon. Hell, I was up there and I had all my heroes with me. These are guys whose ashtrays I used to clean. I'm kinda amazed I wasn't more amazed."

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Notes: *^A "Born and Raised in Black and White" did not chart on Hot Country Songs, but peaked at No. 1 on Hot Country Radio Breakouts.

Videography

Music videos

Video albums

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Highwaymen, The American country music groups Country music supergroups Musical quartets Johnny Cash Willie Nelson Musical groups established in 1985 Musical groups disestablished in 1995 Columbia Records artists Liberty Records artists 1985 establishments in the United States 1995 disestablishments in the United States