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-- OriginalOwner_ [tinyurl.com] writes:

from the remembering-a-master dept.

Taste of Country reports [tasteofcountry.com]

Merle Haggard has died after a series of recent health struggles. The legendary singer passed away on April 6, 2016, which was also his 79th birthday.

Haggard canceled tour dates in December of 2015 after he checked into a hospital and learned he had double pneumonia. In an interview later with Willie's Roadhouse on Sirius XM, he said he was "nearly dead" when he was hospitalized for two weeks. He canceled shows scheduled for Jan. 30 and 31 after his double pneumonia returned. At the end of March, the legend announced he was canceling all of his scheduled shows for April on doctor's orders.

According to Country Aircheck, Haggard had been in hospice care recently. The country icon's manager, Frank Mull, reveals that he died of pneumonia at 9:20AM on Wednesday (April 6) in Palo Cedro, California.

An item on Haggard's site says [merlehaggard.com]

Merle Haggard knows all about hard living, uncertain love, and workers ground down by depressing jobs.

Wikipedia notes [wikipedia.org]

Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band the Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound [wikipedia.org], 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.

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