Willie Nelson + Annie D’Angelo — Country’s Greatest Love Stories

Willie Nelson has been married four times, but he's got a sharp sense of humor about all of his nuptials. While it's taken the country legend several tries, it seems that his fourth and current wife, Ann Marie (Annie) D'Angelo, is here to stay.

The couple got married on Sept. 16, 1991. They've shared almost three decades of ups and downs, but when Nelson was asked back in 2012 if D'Angelo was “the real love of [his] life,” his response was pretty epic.

“Well, for the moment she is,” he said with a laugh.

Nelson met D'Angelo when she was working as a makeup artist on the set of his 1986 film Stagecoach. Their relationship is his longest marriage by a long shot, and she's stood by his side through several drug arrests.

"She's been with me through thick and thin -- you can't ask for anything more than that!" Nelson tells Rolling Stone.

Not only has D'Angelo been a devoted wife, she's also encouraged the singer be a little healthier: They bike and swim together at their Maui, Hawaii, home, and she's helped him cut back on bacon. Additionally, Nelson's wife has helped him with his finances, ultimately reducing his payroll.

"There were a lot of people sponging off him, even though he didn't look at it that way," says friend Johnny Bush. "They lived in the condos and at the world headquarters; there were trailers all over the place. And, of course, Willie wasn't going to tell them to leave."

Nelson, a self-described “hundred-percent” romantic at heart, has two sons with D'Angelo, Lukas Autrey and Jacob Micah. And as he has gotten older, Nelson believes that his abilities as a husband have gotten stronger, explaining simply, "You get older, you get wiser."

He adds, “Well, I now understand a lot more than I did.”

However, Nelson says that the biggest lessons have not come from marriage but from divorce.

"The reason divorces are so expensive is, they're worth it," the singer says.

Luckily, Nelson says that D'Angelo is the real deal.

“I’m not easy to live with. I’m pretty temperamental, you know. I’ve been used to doing things my own way for so long that I’m not interested in any suggestions. There was friction with my other wives. But it seems like Annie and I did okay with each other," he says. "It takes a special person to live with me ... I’ve got great wives, great kids, great grandkids."

Nelson's path to love may not be for everyone, but here's to many more years with D'Angelo!