The Highwaymen, comprising Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson, delivered a landmark performance at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York on December 28, 1990. This concert, broadcast as part of Germany’s WDR Rockpalast series, stands as one of the few professionally recorded live documents of the supergroup’s brief but influential run. The performance was later released as The Highwaymen Live from Nassau Coliseum, capturing the quartet at the height of their collaborative powers.
The Nassau Coliseum show occurred during the promotional cycle for Highwayman 2, the group’s second studio album released in 1990. While the album peaked at number four on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, the live performance offered fans a rarer, unfiltered glimpse of the band’s stage chemistry. The broadcast through WDR’s Rockpalast franchise ensured international exposure, particularly in European markets where the artists individually maintained strong followings.
Setlists from the evening, as documented in contemporary concert reviews and archived Rockpalast listings, included core material from both Highwayman albums alongside signature solo performances. Notable renditions included “Highwayman,” “Desperados Waiting for a Train,” and “Big River,” with each member taking turns on lead vocals and trading verses in their characteristic styles. The performance was notable not only for its musical execution but for the visible camaraderie between the four artists, who had first united in 1985 under the guidance of producer Chips Moman.
The WDR Rockpalast archives confirm the broadcast date and origin, listing the Nassau Coliseum concert under its 1990–1991 season transmissions. While the exact runtime of the televised edit varies across regional broadcasts, the full concert recording exceeds two hours and has been circulated through official home video releases. The Nassau Coliseum venue itself, a Long Island arena with a capacity exceeding 15,000, was a common stop for major touring acts during the era, having hosted performances by Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, and Billy Joel in prior years.
Decades after the original broadcast, the Nassau Coliseum performance remains a touchstone for fans of outlaw country and collaborative live recordings. Its enduring availability through official channels—including streaming platforms and physical media reissues—underscores the lasting cultural footprint of The Highwaymen as country music’s first bona fide supergroup. The concert exemplifies how temporary alliances between established solo artists can produce artifacts greater than the sum of their individual careers, particularly when preserved through reputable broadcast partners like WDR.
For viewers interested in accessing the performance, the official Rockpalast archive via WDR’s media library provides verified metadata and streaming options where regional licensing permits. Physical copies of the concert continue to appear through authorized distributors, often remastered for modern audiovisual standards. As of the latest available updates, no additional previously unreleased footage from the Nassau Coliseum engagement has been formally announced for release.
Those wishing to explore related content may consult the extensive documentation of WDR’s Rockpalast series, which maintains publicly accessible logs of its 1970s–2000s broadcasts. These records confirm the Nassau Coliseum airing as part of a broader initiative to capture significant live rock and country performances for European audiences. No further official announcements regarding re-broadcasts or commemorative releases tied to this specific concert have been issued by WDR or the artists’ estates as of the current date.
To share your thoughts on this historic performance or discuss other landmark live recordings from the outlaw country era, join the conversation in the comments below. If you found this overview informative, consider sharing it with others who appreciate the intersection of music history and televised performance archives.