Willie Nelson just took the “Bitin’ List” to the next level.
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This viral social media trend is inspired by a song from Tyler Childers‘ Snipe Hunter album. The lyrics describe who the songwriter would bite if he ever contracted rabies. The concept took hold as others shared what people or things irritate them.
Nelson—or whoever runs his socials—has jumped on the craze, and it may have won the internet today.
Who Did Willie Nelson Put on His “Bitin’ List?”
The post features the cover of Nelson’s 1991 double-album The IRS Tapes: Who’ll Buy My Memories?
And the caption? “Bitin’ List 1990’s Edition: THE IRS.”
For those unfamiliar, the album came out in the summer of 1991, was marketed with a TV commercial, and was available only by phone order. It would come out in record stores a year later.
The over-hour-long recording featured only the ponytailed singer and his guitar playing his hits. But what does it have to do with the Internal Revenue Service? Read on below.
Nelson Owed Quite a Bit of Money to the IRS
About $16.7 million, it claimed, including penalties and interest. That sum was one of the largest individual tax bills ever accumulated at the time.
The reason for it had nothing to do with Nelson not wanting to pay his taxes. According to the songwriter, in the 1980s, his accountants invested his earnings in tax shelters that the IRS later deemed illegal. Nelson was unaware of this, trusting his advisors to do the right thing.
In 1990, the government agency seized most of the assets of the “On the Road Again” singer, including his ranch in Texas. Luckily, some fans and friends were kind enough to purchase some of Nelson’s assets and return them to him.
To avoid prison, Nelson struck a deal with the IRS to repay the debt through his music. That’s where The IRS Tapes comes in: all profits from the album went directly to the IRS. It also helped that critics and fans loved it. Sales of the record knocked out nearly $4 million of what he owed.
This whole incident cemented Nelson’s standing as an outlaw in the music industry. Oddly enough, that status hasn’t come close to fading three decades later.
