You may know that Willie Nelson’s ode to the Mile High City, simply titled “Denver,” is one of the shortest, sweetest tracks on his 1975 country classic “Red Headed Stranger.”

But did you know that Nelson has rekindled his love of Denver over the last decade thanks to Colorado songwriter Nathaniel Rateliff? The latter has played, written with, recorded, and released music by Nelson, even as he leads his own revered soul outfit, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats.

Countless tidbits like that swirl through the Colorado music scene, showing that the state has an impact on well-known musical artists — and not just the other way around.

Here are a few notable ones”

• You may know that The Beatles played its only Colorado show to a less-than-full Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Aug. 26, 1964, having escaped the 10,000 fans who showed up to greet them at Stapleton Airport. But did you know that 8 days before the show, promoter Verne Byers received a letter threatening violence at the concert? The threat prompted Byers to contact Denver police, who alerted the FBI. “If you know what’s good for you, cancel Denver engagement,” the letter read. “I’ll be in the audience and I’m going to throw a hand grenade instead of jelly babies,” it said, referring to the British candy fans threw during concerts. The show went off without any grenades, fortunately.

• You may know that a violent riot at a 1971 Jethro Tull concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre led to a years-long ban on rock ‘n’ roll at the Morrison venue. But did you know that rock only returned because a judge forced the issue? A U.S. Circuit Court ruling in 1975 faulted the city for enforcing the ban “arbitrarily and capriciously,” according to reports, and compared it to thought-policing. One year later, rock ‘n’ roll was officially back at Red Rocks, and it’s safe to say that other historic music riots in Denver (at shows from Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Pantera, DJ Quik, etc.) never had the same negative impact on the overall scene.

• You may have heard that grunge icon Nirvana played the Gothic Theatre in 1991 just after recording its landmark album “Nevermind” in Los Angeles. But did you know that leader Kurt Cobain considered it one of his favorite gigs of all time? “Every time I look back at the best times in this band, it was right before ‘Nevermind’ came out,” he said in the 1993 book “Comes as You Are,” written by music journalist Michael Azerrad. “That’s when the band is at its best — they’re really trying hard and there’s so much excitement in the air you can just taste it.” And it wasn’t even a headlining show (Dinosaur Jr. was billed above Nirvana).

• You may know that acclaimed British rocker Radiohead played a pair of its best-ever concerts at Red Rocks in 2001 and 2003. But did you know the band’s rental trailer was stolen outside of a Ramada Inn on East Colfax Avenue in 1995 during its tour for “The Bends,” just before opening for Soul Asylum at the Ogden Theatre? Guitarist Jonny Greenwood was eventually reunited with at least one of the guitars (an Ebony Frost Fender Telecaster Plus) but the band has been quoted as saying they’d never let their equipment out of their sight again after the incident. (Their last show here was an underwhelming 2012 performance at the now-demolished FirstBank Center.)

• You may know that Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Marc Cohn (“Walking in Memphis”) loves playing Colorado, given his frequent visits over the years. But did you know that in 2005 he was shot in the head in an attempted carjacking in Denver? He’d just played a sold-out show at Denver Botanic Gardens with Suzanne Vega when the incident occurred near the 16th Street Mall. Even though the bullet lodged in his skull, he was released from the hospital eight hours after checking in. The fact that he continued to play Colorado after the incident is a testament to his relationship with his fans.

• You may know that several musicians have been jailed in Colorado over the years for alleged infractions such as indecent exposure (punk band Nig-Heist, in 1984), assault (Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes, 1991), and disorderly conduct (Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore, 1993). But did you know Puddle of Mudd singer Wes Scantlin was arrested for riding an upright baggage carousel at Denver International Airport? Not only did Scanlan continue to do it after being warned, according to police reports, he even rode it through the wall and into the supposedly secure area closed to the public. Scantlin had been scheduled to play that night (Jan. 16) at Casselman’s — and just barely made it after a fan bailed him out of jail.

• You may know that fans of former One Direction member Louis Tomlinson were pummeled by hail from a fast-moving storm at Red Rocks in 2023, leading to cuts, broken bones, and dozens of other injuries. But did you know that weather-related cancelations in Colorado are a regular event? Several shows at Red Rocks have been canceled or postponed in recent months due to weather, following a quartet of nixed shows in 2024. Just this year, weather has snagged Sublime, Hippie Sabotage and L’Impératrice due to forecasts of snow and wind. The cancelations are relatively rare, but not unheard of.