Country Legend Merle Haggard Dead at 79

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(Photo courtesy THEFEDORALOUNGE.COM)

Country Music Legend Merle Haggard has passed away on his birthday, according to multiple reports.

He was 79 years-old and died in California. Haggard was battling pneumonia.

From TMZ: “Haggard canceled his shows for the month of April due to his continuing efforts to recover. His manager tells us Merle was weary from battling pneumonia for so long … and had even predicted to friends he would die on his birthday.”

Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique 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.

By the 1970s, Haggard was aligned with the growing outlaw country movement, and has continued to release successful albums through the 1990s and into the 2000s.

(Photo courtesy THEFEDORALOUNGE.COM)
(Photo courtesy THEFEDORALOUNGE.COM)

In 1994, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

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