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Country Legend, Merle Haggard died on his 79th birthday on April 6, 2016. He had been suffering from double pneumonia and had to cancel a string of concerts with Willie Nelson.
Merle was born on this date in 1937, near Bakersfield, California. The son of a railroad worker, Haggard grew up in California and lived with his family in a box car that they had converted into their home. As a child, he was plagued by a respiratory condition, which frequently kept him out of school and confined to bed rest. In 1945 life grew even more difficult when his father died of a stroke, forcing his mother to find work and leave her young son in the care of family members.
Left to his own devices, Haggard developed into a rebellious teen, compiling a criminal record that included such offenses as truancy, passing phony checks and grand theft auto. At the same time, he nurtured a musical talent that he had inherited from his father—who had been a fiddle player and guitarist before starting a family—teaching himself to play the guitar. As he got older his escalating juvenile delinquency frequently landed him in reform facilities and county jails, but when he wasn’t serving time he worked in the oil fields during the day and indulged his love of music at night, playing guitar in local bars and clubs.
In 1958, at the age of 20, Merle Haggard was sent to San Quentin prison after being convicted for burglary and attempted escape from county jail. While serving a 2 1/2-year term, he played in the prison’s country band and took high school equivalency courses.
Haggard has released close to 70 albums and 600 songs, 250 of which he has written himself. Among his most memorable albums were The Fightin’ Side of Me (1970), Someday We’ll Look Back (1971), If We Make It Through December (1974) and A Working Man Can’t Get Nowhere Today (1977). In 1982, Haggard recorded a duet album with George Jones called A Taste of Yesterday’s Wine, which yielded the chart toppers “Yesterday’s Wine” and “C.C. Waterback.” The following year, he collaborated with Willie Nelson to record the widely praised compilation Pancho & Lefty. In addition to an impressive title track, Pancho & Lefty featured the touching ballads “It’s My Lazy Day,” “Half a Man,” “Reasons to Quit” and “All the Soft Places to Fall.”
Haggard was elected to the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in 1977. In 1994, his wealth of artistic achievements, including 38 No. 1 hits, earned him an induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Though his musical output has waned over the years, he has continued to find success with albums such as If I Could Fly (2000), Haggard Like Never Before (2003) and his 2015 reunion album with Willie Nelson, Djano & Jimmie, which landed Haggard atop the country music charts one more time.
Sing Me Back Home
In 2008, Haggard was diagnosed with lung cancer and underwent surgery to remove the tumor.
Haggard was married to Leona Hobbs from 1956 to 1964 and to Buck Owens’s ex-wife and fellow country singer Bonnie Owens from 1965 to 1978. Two more failed marriages followed—to backup singer Leona Williams and to Debbie Parrett. At the time of his death, Haggard was married to Theresa Lane, whom he wed in 1993. He has three children from his first marriage to Hobbs and two children with Lane.
Death
