b'Just the FactsMERLE HAGGARD Merle Haggard was born on April 6, 1937, near Bakerseld, Two years after California. Merle had perhaps lived the most countryHaggards rst life of anybody in the history of the country music genre,hit in 1963, he especially in his younger days. Among the particularlymarried Bonnie country, things in Haggards lifetime is the fact that heOwens, who was was actually born in a real boxcar. His parents moved fromrecently divorced Oklahoma during the dust bowl of the 1930s for a betterfrom fellow Haggard had 38 #1 country singles including classics such life in Bakerseld, California. Merles father, James, workedcountry singeras "Mama Tried," "Okie from Muskogee," "Sing Me Back for the Santa Fe Railroad and took to converting an oldBuck Owens. SheHome" and "Today I Start Loving You Again," which has boxcar sitting on a piece of land just outside of Bakerseldeventually becamebeen covered more than 400 times. He told Rolling Stone into a home for his family that was about to grow with theone of Haggardsmagazine that the song that tops his list of songs he wishes addition of another.backup singershe had written is Johnny Cash\'s "Ring Of Fire."As a child, he was plagued by a respiratory condition,and is said to have helped him become a country Sometimes superstardom has its perks, which Merle which frequently kept him out of school and conned tosuperstar. But then he started showing interest in LeonaHaggard no doubt found out in 1972 when he was bed rest. In 1945 life grew even more difficult when hisWilliams, and he went back and forth between the twopardoned for all of his past crimes by California Governor father died of a stroke, forcing his mother to nd workwomen. Owens eventually stopped coming home to himat the time and future President of the United States and leave her young son in the care of family members. and the couple got divorced in 1978. Ronald Reagan just 12 years after his release from SanIn 1965 Haggard formed his own backing band, theQuentin. Haggard had tried for years to get a pardon, but "Incorrigible" is the word people say Haggard\'sStrangers, before signing with Capitol Records, and laterthe appeals process was lengthy and he hadnt had success. mother used when she dropped her son off atthat year, the band released their debut self-titled album.Hed say years later the pardon came as a shock to him and a juvenile detention centerwhen he was 11Their follow-up album, Swinging Doors, reached No. 1 onhe didnt expect it to happen. years old. By that time, he had already startedthe country charts the following year, and in 1967 their Despite his criticisms of country music, Haggard was hopping onto freight trains. single "I\'m a Lonesome Fugitive" did the same. Later thatinducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in year, Haggard doubled down on their runaway success1977 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004.Left to his own devices, Haggard developed into awith "Branded Man," his rst self-penned No. 1 song.Haggard and Leona Williams got married in October rebellious teen, compiling a criminal record that included Merle Haggard was one of the most serious performers1978, following his divorce earlier in the year. The couple such offenses as truancy, passing phony checks and grandin the history of country music. He also had a greatstarted touring for their separate shows, but Haggard theft auto. At the same time, he nurtured a musical talentsense of humor though it was rarely seen in public. Onestarted a love triangle when his backup singer was also his that he had inherited from his fatherwho had beenof the few times his playful side ever came across onex-wife, Bonnie Owens.a ddle player and guitarist before starting a family television was during an appearance on Glen Campbells In 1980, he made a cameo appearance in the movie teaching himself to play the guitar. As he got older hisvariety television series in Haggards heyday of the 1960sBronco Billy and sang a duet of "Bar Room Buddies" with escalating juvenile delinquency frequently landed himwhen Haggard broke out his many impressions of fellowClint Eastwood. It was a fun little drinking/buddy song in reform facilities and county jails, but when he wasn\'tcountry stars. Campbell said they were the best countryfeaturing Haggard doing his usual thing, but the vocals serving time he worked in the oil elds during the daymusic impressions Ive ever heard and he was probablyfrom Eastwood are proof that he chose the right career. and indulged his love of music at night, playing guitar inright. Haggard did perfect impressions of Marty Robbins,Surprisingly the song went all the way to number one local bars and clubs. Hank Snow, Buck Owens, and Johnny Cash.on the Billboard country chart in the summer of 1980,Merle Haggard married Leona Hobbs at the age of Haggard made his lm acting debut in 1968 when hebecoming Haggards milestone 25th career number one.19. They stayed together for eight years and had fourappeared in Killers Three, a western crime drama written Haggard married Debbie Parret, wife number four, in children: Dana, Marty, Kelly, and Noel. by Dick Clark, in 1968. Haggard played the role of a1985. They divorced in 1991. In 1958, at the age of 20, Merle Haggard was sent tosheriff and sang his hit "Mama Tried." He had also been Though his musical output waned slightly over theSan Quentin prison after being convicted for burglaryan occasional television actor,years, he continued to nd success with albums such asand attempted escape from county jail. His burglaryappearing in episodes of TheIf I Could Only Fly (2000), Haggard Like Never Before conviction was supposed to get him 15 years in SanWaltons and Centennial.(2003) and his 2015 reunion album with Willie Nelson, Quentin, but he only ended up serving two. In a strange way, it might have been the best thing to ever happenIn 1992, Theresa Ann Lane was going back to Haggards guitarist Clint Strongs room to him, or at least the most transformational. For, it wasafter a concert at Lake Shasta. However, Merle had eyes for her and asked his guitarist during that prison run that he saw Johnny Cash performto go to the bus to get a guitar, and when Clint came back, Haggard wouldnt let him one of his prison concerts on New Years Day in 1958 andback into the room. On their wedding day, September 11, 1993, she was in her 30s and saw his own destiny before him.he was in his 50s, so there was a significant age gap. They had two children, JenessaIt\'s often noted that when Johnny Cash performedand Ben. His marriage to Theresa was his longest lasting 23 years."Folsom Prison Blues," Haggard was in the audience and that the experience prodded him along in his own career.During the remainder of theDjango & Jimmie, which landed Haggard atop theBut to Haggard, a bigger idol was Lefty Frizzell, whose1960s, Haggard churned out a string of No. 1 singles,country music charts one more time. craftsmanship left a huge impression on Haggard at leastculminating with what would become his signature In 2008, Haggard was diagnosed with lung canceras early as his teenage years. Haggard is quoted writing insong and his most controversial recording, "Okie fromand underwent surgery to remove the tumor. Reecting the forward of Frizzell\'s biography, "The impact Lefty hadMuskogee." Released in 1969, the song became an anthemon the situation, he referred to it as "the greatest teston country music is not even measurable. . No one couldfor middle Americans whose patriotism and traditionalof my fortitude." handle a song like Lefty. He would hold on to each wordvalues were under attack by Vietnam War protesters and In 2010, he was one of four recipients of the Kennedy until he nally decided to drop it and pick up the nexthippies. "Okie from Muskogee" crossed over to the popCenter Honors along with Paul McCartney, Oprah one. Most of us learned to sing listening to him." charts and in 1970 earned Haggard the Country MusicWinfrey, and composer Jerry Herman. Upon his parole in 1960, Haggard returned to Bakerseld,Association\'s Awards for Single, Entertainer and Top Haggard never stopped making music, and although he where he sang and played guitar in the honky-tonks ofMale Vocalist of Year. The album of the same name alsooften complained about life on the road, he was doing his "Beer Can Hill," the hub of the city\'s burgeoning countrywon Album of the Year. best to tour in the months prior to his death as he fought music scene, whose grittier sound stood in contrast to the Haggard released close to 70 albums and 600 songs,off serious health problems.softer and safer country music coming out of Nashville. 250 of which he has written himself. Among his most The 11 days he spent trying to recover from his illnessAfter gaining a loyal local following in his hometown,memorable albums were The Fightin\' Side of Me (1970),had become so difficult that he reportedly told his friends Haggard traveled to Las Vegas, where he began playingSomeday We\'ll Look Back (1971), If We Make It Throughand family that he would die on his birthday. He had been bass guitar for Wynn Stewart. In 1962, he signed with aDecember (1974) and A Working Man Can\'t Get Nowheresuffering from double pneumonia and had to cancel a small label called Tally Records, for whom he recordedToday (1977).string of scheduled concerts with Willie Nelson. Haggard ve songs, including his debut single "Sing a Sad Song,"died at home on his Northern California Ranch onwhich rose to No. 19 on the country charts.April 6, 2016, his 79th birthday.30 May 2019'