Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music songwriter, singer, guitarist, fiddler, and instrumentalist. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band the Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the twang of Fender Telecaster and the unique mix with the traditional country steel guitar sound, new vocal harmony styles in which the words are minimal, and a rough edge not heard on the more polished Nashville sound recordings of the same era.
Haggard’s childhood was troubled after the death of his father, and he was incarcerated multiple times in his youth. He managed to turn his life around and meet success in music, and gained popularity with his songs about the working class and supporting the Vietnam war during the massive opposition at the time. By the 1970s, Haggard was aligned with the growing outlaw country movement, and he continued to release successful albums through the 1990s and into the 2000s. In 1994, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 1997, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.
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Haggard was married five times, first to Leona Hobbs from 1956 to 1964. They had four children: Dana, Marty, Kelli, and Noel.
Shortly after divorcing Hobbs, in 1965 he married singer Bonnie Owens, former wife of Buck Owens, and a successful country singer at the time. Haggard credited her with helping him make his big break as a country artist. Haggard shared the writing credit with Owens for his hit “Today I Started Loving You Again”, and acknowledged, including on stage, that the song was about a sudden burst of special feelings he experienced for her while they were touring together. She also helped care for Haggard’s children from his first marriage, and was the maid of honor for Haggard’s third marriage. Haggard and Owens divorced in 1978, but remained close friends as Owens continued as his backing vocalist until her death in 2006.
In 1978 Haggard married Leona Williams; they divorced in 1983. In 1985 Haggard married Debbie Parret; they divorced in 1991.
He married his fifth wife, Theresa Ann Lane, on September 11, 1993. They had two children, Jenessa and Ben.
A truck driver and part-time musician named Scott Haggard has said that he is Merle Haggard’s son from a brief relationship in 1968. According to Scott Haggard, a DNA test confirmed the paternity, but Scott and Merle Haggard had no contact until 2004, when they met and talked after a concert. After that, they had sporadic contact. As of Merle Haggard’s death, his family had not confirmed or denied Scott Haggard’s paternity.
Haggard said he started smoking marijuana when he was 41 years old. He admitted that in 1983 he bought “$2,000 (worth) of cocaine” and partied for five days afterward, when he said he finally realized his condition and quit for good. He quit smoking cigarettes in 1991, and stopped smoking marijuana in 1995. However, a Rolling Stone magazine interview in 2009 indicated that he had resumed regular marijuana smoking.
Haggard underwent angioplasty in 1995 to unblock clogged arteries. On November 9, 2008, it was announced that he had been diagnosed with non-small-cell lung cancer in May and undergone surgery on November 3, during which part of his lung was removed. Haggard returned home on November 8. Less than two months after his cancer surgery, he played two shows on January 2 and 3, 2009, in Bakersfield at Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace, and continued to tour and record until his death.
On December 5, 2015, Haggard was treated at an undisclosed hospital in California for pneumonia. He made a recovery, but postponed several concerts.
In March 2016, Haggard was once again hospitalized. His concerts for April were cancelled due to his ongoing double pneumonia. On April 6, 2016, his 79th birthday, he died of complications from pneumonia at his home in Palo Cedro, California, just outside Redding.
This article is only partial. No disrespect meant to Mr. Haggard but he accomplished so much and really is a great role model especially for young people who find themselves in trouble. Read the whole bio here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_Haggard
Another really interesting article on Mr. Haggard:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-06/merle-haggard-okie-from-muskogee-country-singer-dies-at-79
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Other Notable Musicians’ Deaths…
April 2016
6: Merle Haggard, 79, American country music singer (“Okie from Muskogee”, “The Fightin’ Side of Me”, “Carolyn”), Grammy winner (1984, 1998, 1999), complications from pneumonia.; Leon Haywood, 74, American funk and soul singer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Haywood
4: Carlo Mastrangelo, 77, American bassist and doo-wop singer (The Belmonts); Getatchew Mekurya, 81, Ethiopian jazz saxophonist; Manolo Tena (es), 64, Spanish singer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Mastrangelo
3: Don Francks, 84, Canadian jazz vocalist and actor (La Femme Nikita, Inspector Gadget, I’m Not There); Bill Henderson, 90, American jazz vocalist and actor (Clue, City Slickers, White Men Can’t Jump); Lola Novakovic, 80, Serbian singer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Henderson_(performer)
2: Gato Barbieri, 83, Argentine jazz saxophonist, pneumonia.
March 2015
31: Bram Beekman, 66, Dutch organist; David Zychek, 64, American rock guitarist, cancer.
30: Howard Cable, 95, Canadian conductor, composer and arranger; Frankie Michaels, 60, American actor and singer, Tony winner (1966); Andy Newman, 73, British pianist (Thunderclap Newman) (death announced on this date); Larry Payton, American R&B drummer (Brass Construction) (death announced on this date); Gianmaria Testa, 57, Italian singer-songwriter.