Merle Haggard

Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 in Bakersfield, California) is an American country music singer and songwriter.

Later years

By the 1980s, Haggard's popularity was waning in pop markets. He published an autobiography called Sing Me Back Home. Although he won a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for 1984's "That's The Way Love Goes", a new kind of honky tonk had begun to overtake country music and singers like George Strait and Randy Travis had taken over the charts. His last number one hit was "Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Star" from his smash album Chill Factor in 1988.

Related Topics:
1980s - Sing Me Back Home - Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance - Honky tonk - George Strait - Randy Travis - Chill Factor - 1988

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Although he has been outspoken in his dislike for modern country music, he has praised newer stars such as George Strait and Randy Travis. The Dixie Chicks paid him tribute in their 2002 song "Long Time Gone", which criticizes Nashville trends: "We listen to the radio to hear what?s cookin? / But the music ain?t got no soul / Now they sound tired but they don?t sound haggard," with the following lines mentioning Johnny Cash and Hank Williams in the same vein.

Related Topics:
The Dixie Chicks - Johnny Cash - Hank Williams

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In 2000, Haggard made a comeback of sorts, signing with the independent record label Anti and releasing the spare If I Could Only Fly to critical acclaim. He followed it in 2001 with Roots, Vol. 1, a collection of Lefty Frizzell, Hank Williams, and Hank Thompson covers, along with three Haggard originals. The album, recorded in Haggard's living room with no overdubs, featured Haggard's longtime bandmates The Strangers as well as Frizzell's original lead guitarist, Norman Stephens.

Related Topics:
If I Could Only Fly - Roots, Vol. 1 - Lefty Frizzell - Hank Williams - Hank Thompson - Norman Stephens

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In December of 2004, Haggard spoke at length on Larry King Live about his incarceration as a young man and said it was "Hell" and "the scariest experience of my life."

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