This land belongs to you and me even Willie Nelson is pushing back against data centers

Date:
Thu, 30 Jul 2026 20:05:00 +0000

Description:
Country music icon Willie Nelson has issued a strongly worded statement about the encroachment of data centers in rural locations across the US.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Iconic musician Willie Nelson has launched a fight against data centers The singer-songwriter cites noise, light pollution, and water theft among other complaints, and underlines the importance of family farmers The 93 year old country music icons statement
was issued on Instagram Willie Nelson has issued a strongly-worded statement about the growing impact of data centers on rural locations across the US.

Texas has seen an unprecedented data center boom over the past few years,
with 300 installations already in operation and a further 250 planned, and facilities centered around Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio. Only Virginia has more data centers. The writer of Wake Me When Its Over has had hit records and toured extensively for the past 70 years, and grew up in the Abbott, Texas area. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here: Data centers are concerning Texans Nelson has a long history of political
activism, notably forming the Farm Aid benefit in 1985 with Neil Young and John Mellencamp, to support and increase awareness of American family farms.

The growth of data centers has unsurprisingly concerned Texans for some time, with matters coming to increasing prominence in recent months. You may like
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Nelsons words of concern over the increasing number of data centers and their impact on rural communities in Americas second-largest state is the highest profile intervention, however.

A post shared by Willie Nelson (@willienelsonofficial)

A photo posted by on Nelson's unsurprisingly passionate and eloquent
statement highlights many of the challenges that data centers pose. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting
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With more facilities being built to handle AI processing, it could be argued that some data centers solve problems that dont really exist, such as generative AI, a technology that Willie Nelson has previously expressed deep concerns about. Willie Nelson and friends Nelson is far from the only
opponent of data centers, and is joined by others in the music community.

Georgia-born Gavin Adcock, who like Nelson grew up in a rural area, may have
a very different persona but has also expressed opposition : These rich, money-grabbing assholes that wanna slap a data center straight in the
country, and suggesting the facilities are built in cities instead.

Fellow Texan Tanya Tucker, meanwhile, has already issued a video in which she asks Texans to contact Gov. Abbott and request a pause on developments,
noting Im concerned about the 765 KV of transmission lines coming through all the ranches in Texas, and destroying our property. It hurts. Its gonna hurt our health, our wildlife, our water table, our water resources. Its going to scar our land forever.

While no tech companies have responded to Willie Nelsons statement, Gov. Greg Abbott has stated that the Texas Legislature will begin hearings regarding data centers this week. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/this-land-belongs-to-you-and-me-even-willie-nels on-is-pushing-back-against-data-centers


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