Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler.
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard
April 6, 1937
Oildale, California, U.S.
April 6, 2016 (aged 79)
Palo Cedro, California, U.S.
Singer, songwriter, musician
- Vocals
- guitar
- fiddle
1963–2016
6, including Marty and Noel Haggard
Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled after the death of his father, and he was incarcerated several times in his youth. After being released from San Quentin State Prison in 1960, he managed to turn his life around and launched a successful country music career. He gained popularity with his songs about the working class; these occasionally contained themes contrary to the anti–Vietnam War sentiment of some popular music of the time. Between the 1960s and the 1980s he had 38 number-one hits on the US country charts, several of which also made the Billboard all-genre singles chart. Haggard continued to release successful albums into the 2000s.
He received many honors and awards for his music, including a Kennedy Center Honor (2010); a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2006); a BMI Icon Award (2006);[1] and induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (1977);[2] Country Music Hall of Fame (1994)[3] and Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame (1997).[4] He died on April 6, 2016—his 79th birthday—at his ranch in Shasta County, California, having recently suffered from double pneumonia.[5]
Equipment[edit]
Haggard endorsed Fender guitars and had a Custom Artist signature model Telecaster. The guitar is a modified Telecaster Thinline with laminated top of figured maple, set neck with deep carved heel, birdseye maple fingerboard with 22 jumbo frets, ivoroid pickguard and binding, gold hardware, abalone Tuff Dog Tele peghead inlay, 2-Colour Sunburst finish, and a pair of Fender Texas Special Tele single-coil pickups with custom-wired 4-way pickup switching. He also played six-string acoustic models. In 2001, C. F. Martin & Company introduced a limited edition Merle Haggard Signature Edition 000-28SMH acoustic guitar available with or without factory-installed electronics.[95]
Personal life[edit]
Wives and children[edit]
Haggard was married five times, first to Leona Hobbs from 1956 to 1964. They had four children: Dana, Marty, Kelli, and Noel.[96]
Shortly after divorcing Hobbs, in 1965, he married singer Bonnie Owens, the former wife of Buck Owens.[97] Haggard credited her with helping him make his big break as a country artist. He 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.[97]
In 1978, Haggard married Leona Williams. In 1983, they divorced.[98] In 1985 Haggard married Debbie Parret; they divorced in 1991.[99] He married his fifth wife, Theresa Ann Lane, on September 11, 1993. They had two children, Jenessa and Ben.[100]
Cigarette and drug use[edit]
Haggard said he started smoking marijuana in 1978, when he was 41 years old. He admitted that in 1983, he bought "$2,000 (worth) of cocaine" and partied for five months afterward, when he said he finally realized his condition and quit for good.[63] He quit smoking cigarettes in 1991, and stopped smoking marijuana in 1995.[101] However, a Rolling Stone magazine interview in 2009 indicated that he had resumed regular marijuana smoking.[99]
Illness and death[edit]
Haggard underwent angioplasty in 1995 to unblock clogged arteries.[102] On November 9, 2008, it was announced that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer in May and undergone surgery on November 3, during which part of his lung was removed.[103] Haggard returned home on November 8.[104] 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 shortly before his death.
On December 5, 2015, Haggard was treated at an undisclosed hospital in California for pneumonia.[105] He made a recovery, but postponed several concerts.[105]
In March 2016, Haggard was once again hospitalized.[106] His concerts for April were canceled due to his ongoing double pneumonia.[107] On the morning of April 6, 2016, his 79th birthday, he died of complications from pneumonia at his home in Palo Cedro, Shasta County, California.[5][108][109] Haggard was buried in a private funeral at his ranch on April 9, 2016; longtime friend Marty Stuart officiated.[110][111]
