A private funeral service has been held for Merle Haggard. The Country Music Hall of Fame musician died this week at his home in California after fighting double pneumonia. He passed away on his ...

I wasn’t expecting it to, but Merle Haggard’s death on his 79th birthday last Wednesday knocked me for a loop, because he’d been such a big influence on me (and millions of others) for so many years.

When Merle Haggard died Wednesday at the age of 79, country singers Connie Smith and Marty Stuart felt as though they’d lost a member of their family. On Saturday the two will pay tribute to the music ...