Another music legend has passed away.
After a series of recent health struggles, Merle Haggard has died today 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.
Haggard was honored as BMI Icon in 1996, and recognized at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2010. He won a slew of ACM, CMA and Grammy awards, and was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1977. Haggard was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994.
