WILLIE NELSON Age: 79 Recent Activity: Busy as ever, writing books, collaborating with Snoop Dogg, and playing Arena Theatre March 10. Expect quite a bit of hoopla surrounding his 80th birthday April 30.

LITTLE RICHARD Age: 80 Recent Activity: Web search turns up precious little (no pun intended). Flamboyant as he is, probably not a good sign.

LORETTA LYNN Age: 80 Recent Activity: The Coal Miner's Daughter is scheduled to play the Arlington Music Hall in North Texas next month, and celebrates her 65th wedding anniversary today. Kudos.

BOBBY BLUE BLAND Age: 81 Recent Activity: Still on the ribald Southern-style R&B/soul circuit alongside the likes of Mel Waiters, Charles Wilson, Denise LaSalle and Shirley Brown, though for some reason not at the April 6 H-Town Blues Festival.

GEORGE JONES Age: 81 Recent Activity: Still on his valedictory "The Grand Tour" farewell swing, that resulted in a somewhat heartbreaking Arena Theatre show last Labor Day weekend. Told that crowd he was going to make another album too.

ORNETTE COLEMAN Age: 82 Recent Activity: The Fort Worth-born father of free jazz is keeping a relatively low profile these days, and had to cancel an appearance at the San Francisco Jazz Festival this past November due to illness.

SONNY ROLLINS Age: 82 Recent Activity: A saxophone colossus rather than a titan, Rollins will appear an upcoming episode of The Simpsons inspired by the Tupac Shakur Coachella hologram, and is said to be the model for Lisa's mentor "Bleeding Gums" Murphy. He's also on tour, naturally.

TONY BENNETT Age: 86: Recent Activity: Teamed with Lady Gaga, among others, on last year's Viva Duets. On tour now, though regrettably nowhere close.

CHUCK BERRY Age: 86 Recent Activity: The man who arguably invented rock and roll still has a residency at St. Louis club Blueberry Hill and plays scattered road dates. A 1980 interview where Berry spotted his influence on the Sex Pistols and Ramones right away recently surfaced.