Country music icon Willie Nelson said COVID-19 was nearly the end of the road for him. But his wife had other plans.

The 93-year-old singer writes in his new book “The Last Leaf” that he became deathly ill from a 2022 viral infection that left him feeling powerless and struggling to breathe. He recalls feeling ill on his bus.

“The COVID-19 test came up positive,” he writes in an excerpt obtained by People. “I knew not to panic, but I also knew this was bad.”

The “On the Road Again” singer took Paxlovid to fight the virus. It didn’t do a lot.

His wife Annie D’Angelo sprang into action. She contacted his doctor to notify a mobile monoclonal antibody specialist prepared to treat Nelson. The crooner was surprised that his 70-year-old spouse knew what to do. She told him she feared this might happen at some point and prepared months in advance accordingly.

The book recalls a critical discussion between the pair.

“All I can remember is feeling excruciating pain in every cell of my body,” Nelson recalls.

As his health worsened, he said “Annie, you need to let me go.”

But she wouldn’t let that happen.

“Willie, if you die, I’ll kill you,” D’Angelo told him.

Nelson said that regardless of what happened, he told his wife that he’d be reincarnated and come back soon. D’Angelo wasn’t interested in that kind of talk. She made sure Nelson knew she wasn’t ready to let him go. According to the Abbott, Texas, native, she didn’t.

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