Weed and the music business – it’s been a long and fruitful association, and one that is as strong today, in this age of legalized marijuana, as it was at the height of flower power. It’s also one that goes back a lot longer than you might think. While we could name hundreds of famous musicians who have had a love for the green, there have been some occasions over the years when music and weed have combined to shape history.   

Louie Armstrong 

The most famous jazz musician ever died in 1971, just as flower power was hitting its stride. But despite being of an older generation,  Armstrong and his fellow band members imbibed during the prohibition era, which was risky to say the least. The 1928 piece Muggles was dedicated to weed, and Armstrong once told a record producer it was the best medicine to “make you forget all the bad things that could happen to a negro” during those turbulent times.  

Paul McCartney 

There’s no disputing the cultural significance of the Beatles. It’s also impossible to ignore the incredible impact that their discovery of psychotropic drugs had on their music – just check out their evolution from Please Please Me to The White Album in five short years. All four loved to smoke weed, but according to popular legend, it was Paul, ostensibly the most straight-laced of the Fab Four, who just couldn’t get enough of the stuff. 

Willie Nelson 

Any attempts to put these musicians in chronological order are transcended by Willie Nelson, who has always been around, joint in hand, so we’ll place him in the middle.  At 88, Willie is as active on stage and as a marijuana advocate as he has ever been. Willie has been busted for possession more times than most of us get speeding citations. Legend says he’s even smoked weed on the roof of the White House. Now, after all these years, the law has finally changed to accept the outlaw he’s able to grow his own brand from cannabis seeds and sell it at retail outlets.  

Bob Marley 

If there’s any name that’s even more closely connected with weed than Willie Nelson, it’s Bob Marley. He’s become the poster child for all things cannabis related to such an extent that he’s almost been turned into a caricature. That’s a shame, because Marley’s message was hugely important. He saw weed as a representation of freedom and change, and he was one of the first to attempt to get lawmakers to seriously think about legalization as long ago as the late 1970s.  

Snoop Dogg 

Their music styles and the 40-year age difference might not make them the most obvious buddies. But Snoop Dogg and Willie Nelson are real good friends according to Nelson. Snoop cuts through the hyperbole to which rappers so often revert, and has eloquently spoken out in favor of legalization for decades, comparing the lawlessness of some American cities with the peaceful life of Amsterdam. Whether LA gang members are quite ready to exchange their bullet proof sedans for bicycles remains to be seen, however.