Merle Haggard

Person

Who is Merle Haggard?

Merle Haggard: Merle Ronald Haggard is an American country and Western song writer, singer, guitarist, fiddler, and instrumentalist. 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.

• also known as Merle Haggard and the Strangers; Haggard, Merle; Merle Ronald Haggard; The Hag; Okie From Muskogee; The Poet of the Common Man; Mighty Merle; Hag
• born on 6 April 1937 (78 years ago) in Oildale, child of James Francis Haggard and Flossie Mae Harp
• nationality: United States of America
• profession: Guitarist, musician, singer-songwriter, actor, fiddler, singer, songwriter, composer, record producer
• member of musical groups:
  • Merle Haggard & The Carter Family
  • Merle Haggard & George Jones
  • Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson
  • Merle Haggard & Carl Jackson
  • Merle Haggard & Janie Fricke
  • The Buckaroos
  • The Strangers
• spouses:
  • Marriage with Theresa Ann Lane since 11 September 1993
  • Marriage with Bonnie Owens between 1965 and 1978 (13 years)
  • Marriage with Leona Hobbs between 1956 and 1964 (8 years)
  • Marriage with Debbie Parret between 1 June 1985 and 1991 (5 years)
  • Marriage with Leona Williams between 7 October 1978 and 1983 (4 years)
• parent of
  • Noel Haggard
  • Kelli Haggard
  • Dana Haggard
  • Jenessa Haggard
  • Ben Haggard
  • Marty Haggard
• genres: Country, Outlaw country, Bakersfield sound
• albums: "Okie From Muskogee: Recorded Live in Muskogee, Oklahoma", "Big City", "Kern River", "5:01 Blues", "Country Pride", "The Lonesome Fugitive: The Merle Haggard Anthology (1963-1977)", "Merle Haggard Love Songs", "24 Greatest Hits", "Live", "Down Every Road: 1962–1994", "Roots, Volume 1", "Hag / Someday We'll Look Back", "Mama Tried / Pride in What I Am", "#1 Hits", "16 Biggest Hits", "18 Rare Classics", "20 Greatest Hits", "24 at No.1", "25th Anniversary Album", "40 #1 Hits", "A Christmas Present", "A Country Christmas With Merle Haggard", "A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World", "Back to the Barrooms", "Chicago Wind", "Country Legends", "Songs for the Mama That Tried", "Good Old Country", "Greatest No. 1 Hits", "His Epic Hits (The First 11)", "His Greatest and His Best", "I'm a Lonesome Fugitive / Mama Tried", "If I Could Only Fly", "Just Between the Two of Us", "Like Never Before", "Live: The Hits and More", "Merle Haggard Collector's Edition", "Motorcycle Cowboy: Live at Billy Bob's Texas", "Okie From Muskogee", "Strangers", "Super Hits", "The Best of the Best of Merle Haggard", "The Fightin' Side of Me", "The Peer Sessions", "The Ultimate Collection", "Unforgettable", "Untamed Hawk: The Early Recordings of Merle Haggard", "Blue Jungle", "All Night Long", "21 Years of #1 Hits 1967-1987"
• filmography:
  • "Hillbillys in a Haunted House"
  • "The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico"
  • "50 Years of Country Gold"
  • "Willie Nelson & Guests: Rock the Night Away"
  • "Last of the Breed"
  • "Merle Haggard: Live from Austin, TX"
  • "Country Fever Jukebox: Vol. 3"
  • "Country Legends Live: Vol. 2"
  • "Inside the Music: Classic Country"
  • "Merle Haggard: Live at Billy Bob's Texas"
  • "The 5th Dimension Travelling Sunshine Show"
  • "#1 Country Hits: Men of Country"
  • "Dolly Parton and Friends: On the Country Train"
  • "Merle Haggard: Live from Austin TX '78"
  • "Johnny Cash: The Anthology"
  • "Merle Haggard: In Concert"
  • "Country Stars on the Rise"
  • "25 Country Classics"
  • "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison"
  • played Charlie in "Killers Three"
  • "Wag the Dog"
• TV series: "Centennial"
• some of the nominations and awards:
  • 1965
    • Academy of Country Music Award for Vocal Group of the Year
    • Academy of Country Music Award for New Male Vocalist of the Year
  • 1966
    • Academy of Country Music Award for Male Vocalist of the Year
    • Academy of Country Music Award for Vocal Group of the Year
  • 1967
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Male Vocalist of the Year
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Entertainer of the Year
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Album of the Year - "I'm a Lonesome Fugitive", with Capitol Records
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Single of the Year - "The Fugitive", with Capitol Records
    • Academy of Country Music Award for Vocal Duo of the Year
  • 1968
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Male Vocalist of the Year
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Entertainer of the Year
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Album of the Year - "The Best of Merle Haggard", with Capitol Records
  • 1969
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Male Vocalist of the Year
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Entertainer of the Year
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Album of the Year - "Same Train, A Different Time: A Tribute to Jimmie Rodgers", with Capitol Records
    • Academy of Country Music Award for Male Vocalist of the Year
    • Academy of Country Music Award for Album of the Year - "Okie From Muskogee"
    • Academy of Country Music Award for Song of the Year - "Okie from Muskogee"
    • Academy of Country Music Award for Single Record of the Year - "Okie from Muskogee"
  • 1970
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Male Vocalist of the Year
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Entertainer of the Year
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year - "The Fightin' Side of Me"
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year - "Okie from Muskogee"
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Album of the Year - "Okie From Muskogee", with Capitol Records
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Album of the Year - "The Fightin' Side of Me", with Capitol Records
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Single of the Year - "Okie from Muskogee", with Capitol Records
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Single of the Year - "The Fightin' Side of Me", with Capitol Records
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Vocal Duo of the Year, with Bonnie Owens
    • Country Music Association Award for Male Vocalist of the Year
    • Country Music Association Award for Entertainer of the Year
    • Country Music Association Award for Album of the Year - "Okie From Muskogee", with Capitol Records
    • Country Music Association Award for Single of the Year - "Okie from Muskogee", with Capitol Records
    • Academy of Country Music Award for Entertainer of the Year
    • Academy of Country Music Award for Male Vocalist of the Year
  • 1971
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Male Vocalist of the Year
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Entertainer of the Year
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Album of the Year - "A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World", with Capitol Records
  • 1972
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Male Vocalist of the Year
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Entertainer of the Year
    • Country Music Association Award for Album of the Year - "Let Me Tell You About a Song", with Capitol Records
    • Academy of Country Music Award for Male Vocalist of the Year
  • 1973
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Male Vocalist of the Year
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Entertainer of the Year
  • 1974
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Male Vocalist of the Year
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Album of the Year - "If We Make It Through December", with Capitol Records
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year - "If We Make It Through December"
    • Academy of Country Music Award for Male Vocalist of the Year
  • 1977
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Entertainer of the Year
  • 1979
    • nominated to American Music Award for Favorite Country Male Artist
  • 1981
    • Academy of Country Music Award for Male Vocalist of the Year
  • 1982
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Male Vocalist of the Year
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Album of the Year - "Big City", with Epic Records
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Vocal Duo of the Year, with George Jones
    • Academy of Country Music Award for Song of the Year - "Are the Good Times Really Over (I Wish a Buck Was Still Silver)", with Shade Tree Music, Inc
  • 1983
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Entertainer of the Year
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Album of the Year - "Pancho & Lefty", with Willie Nelson & Epic Records
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Single of the Year - "Pancho and Lefty", with Willie Nelson & Epic Records
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Vocal Duo of the Year, with Willie Nelson
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Vocal Duo of the Year, with George Jones
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Male Vocalist of the Year
    • nominated to Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal - "Pancho & Lefty", with Willie Nelson
    • Country Music Association Award for Vocal Duo of the Year, with Willie Nelson
  • 1984
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Album of the Year - "That's the Way Love Goes", with Epic Records
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Male Vocalist of the Year
    • nominated to Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance - "That's the Way Love Goes"
    • Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance - "That's the Way Love Goes"
  • 1991
    • American Music Award of Merit
  • 1994
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Album of the Year - "Tribute to the music of Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys", with Brooks & Dunn, Chet Atkins, Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, Suzy Bogguss, Asleep at the Wheel, Willie Nelson, Herb Remington, Lucky Oceans, Dolly Parton, Huey Lewis, Leon Rausch, Johnny Gimble, Lyle Lovett, Jody Nix, Eldon Shamblin, George Strait, Marty Stuart, Johnny Rodriguez, Riders in the Sky, Liberty Records
  • 1998
    • nominated to Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals - "Same Old Train", with Alison Krauss, Clint Black, Dwight Yoakam, Earl Scruggs, Emmylou Harris, Joe Diffie, Marty Stuart, Pam Tillis, Patty Loveless, Randy Travis, Ricky Skaggs & Travis Tritt
    • nominated to Academy of Country Music Award for Vocal Event of the Year - "Same Old Train", with Earl Scruggs, Clint Black, Dwight Yoakam, Emmylou Harris, Marty Stuart, Joe Diffie, Alison Krauss, Pam Tillis, Patty Loveless, Ricky Skaggs, Randy Travis
    • Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals - "Same Old Train", with Alison Krauss, Clint Black, Dwight Yoakam, Earl Scruggs, Emmylou Harris, Joe Diffie, Marty Stuart, Pam Tillis, Patty Loveless, Randy Travis, Ricky Skaggs & Travis Tritt
    • Grammy Hall of Fame Award - "Mama Tried"
  • 2004
    • nominated to Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals - "Pancho and Lefty", with Willie Nelson & Toby Keith
  • 2005
    • nominated to Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals - "Politically Uncorrect", with Gretchen Wilson
    • Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, with Jessye Norman, David Bowie, Cream, Richard Pryor, The Weavers & Robert Johnson
  • 2006
    • nominated to Country Music Association Award for Musical Event of the Year - "Politically Uncorrect", with Gretchen Wilson
  • 2010
    • Kennedy Center Honors
• official website: www.merlehaggard.com

Printed encyclopedias and other books with definitions for Merle Haggard

Click on a title to look inside that book (if available):

Stayin' Alive (2011)

by Jefferson R. Cowie

“Merle Haggard is a great artist and a great person, ...

Warfare in the American Homeland (2007)

Policing and Prison in a Penal Democracy by Joy James

Merle Haggard is a notable white country- and-western singer. 9. Editor's note: In October 1966, in Oakland, California, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale co-founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (later renamed the Black Panther Party) and wrote a ten-point political platform, "What We Believe" ...

The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz (2007)

by the late Leonard Feather, Ira Gitler

Willie Nelson; Merle Haggard; and regularly on Garrison Keillor's radio progs. since '89.

The Fourth of July Encyclopedia (2007)

by James R. Heintze

This ¡0-hour marathon featured seven acts, including Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, and the Stray Cats. Ronstadt and Harris were noted for creating connections between country music and the Los Angeles popular music mainstream by including ...

Online dictionaries and encyclopedias with entries for Merle Haggard

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Quotes about Merle Haggard

'Cause I was already a smoker, it was easy to get addicted. The one thing that they don't teach you about marijuana is how addictive it is. (Merle Haggard)
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