Merle Haggard

Merle Ronald Haggard was born April 6, 1937 in Bakersfield, California.

One of the early innovators of the Bakersfield Sound in country music, Merle visited the Country Hit Parade more than 100 times starting with is first release in 1963, “Sing A Sad Song.”

In 1966, “The Fugitive” was the first of 30 chart toppers, but it would not be his last as “Branded Man,” “Sing Me Back Home,” “The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde,” “Mama Tried,” “Hungry Eyes,” “Workin’ Man Blues,” “Okie From Muskogee,” “The Fightin’ Side of Me,” “Daddy Frank,” “Carolyn,” “Grandma Harp,” “It’s Not Love,” “I Wonder if They Ever Think of Me,” “Everybody’s Had The Blues,” “If We Make It Through December,” “Things Aren’t Funny Anymore,” “Old Man From the Mountain,” “Kentucky Gambler,” “Always Wanting You,” “Movin’ On,” “It’s All In The Movies,” “The Roots of My Raising,” “Cherokee Maiden,” “Bar Room Buddies,” “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink,” “My Favorite Memory,” “Big City,” “Yesterday’s Wine,” “Going Where The Lonely Go,” “You Take Me for Granted,” “Pancho and Lefty,” “That’s the Way Love Goes,” “Someday When Things Are Good,” “Let’s Chase Each Other Around The Room,” “A Place To Fall Apart,” “Natural High and “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” each reached the number one position.

Awarded three Grammy’s Merle Haggard was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994 and has received more than a dozen tributes from the Academy of Country Music.

He died in 2016 and he also has a son named Benjamin "Ben" Haggard (born December 14, 1992) who is also a country singer.