Willie Nelson's Valentine To You

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Nelson unveils 'gay cowboy' valentine 1 hour, 19 minutes ago

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Willie Nelson chose Valentine's Day to release the gay-themed song "Cowboys Are Secretly, Frequently (Fond of Each Other)." The country music icon premiered the track Tuesday morning (February 14) on Howard Stern's Sirius Satellite Radio show as it was being made exclusively available via Apple's iTunes music store.

Nelson recorded the song, written in 1981 by songwriter Ned Sublette, last year at his home studio in Perdernales, Texas, around the time he first mentioned it during an appearance on Stern's former terrestrial radio show. The timing of the song's release coincides with a time when the idea of gay cowboys is being discussed throughout the media in response to the success of the Academy Award-nominated film "Brokeback Mountain."

Coincidentally, Nelson contributed the track "He Was a Friend of Mine" to the movie's Verve soundtrack, which peaked at No. 54 on the Billboard 200.

"The song's been in the closet for 20 years," Nelson said in a statement released to the Dallas Morning News. "The timing's right for it to come out. I'm just opening the door."

Adding to the track's poignancy is the fact that David Anderson, Nelson's longtime tour manager, revealed his homosexuality to Nelson two years ago.

"This song obviously has special meaning to me in more ways than one," Anderson told the Dallas Morning News. "I want people to know more than anything -- gay, straight, whatever -- just how cool Willie is and ... his way of thinking, his tolerance, everything about him."

The Broken Lizard comedy troupe ("Super Troopers," "Club Dread") will create a video for "Cowboys Are Secretly, Frequently (Fond of Each Other)," with plans to release it exclusively through iTunes.