Only Merle Haggard. Never one who was shy or too scared to speak his mind, Merle was good friends with Ray Benson, frontman of Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel, who recalled a great story about ...

One of Merle Haggard's classics. In 1973, Merle released "If We Make It Through December" as the lead single for his Christmas album Merle Haggard’s Christmas Present, but it later became the the ...

Merle Haggard enjoyed numerous artistic and professional triumphs, including more than 100 country hits (38 No. 1s), dozens of studio and live album releases, upwards of 10,000 concerts, induction ...

Fifty-two years ago today, Merle Haggard started a four-week run at the top of the country charts with a future signature song.

I think you can say that Merle Haggard had a hit and sort of dragged me along,” joked Eastwood of the duet they shared in ...

Merle Haggard was an escape artist. The future country music legend broke out of juvenile hall and prison 17 times by his own count as a teenager and young man. But his greatest escape was getting out ...

Sturgill Simpson has surprise-released a second bluegrass album. Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 2 – The Cowboy Arms Sessions arrived early Friday morning with 12 new recordings, including the previously unheard ...

Many of his songs are better known by other singers’ interpretations, like Janis Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee,” Johnny Cash’s “Sunday Morning Coming Down” and more. By Lindsay Zoladz Nine tracks from ...

Ethan Hawke, 55, is a longtime admirer and friend of Willie Nelson and has appeared with the country music legend at events ...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Merle Haggard didn’t just write great country songs, he lived them. His real life experiences of poverty as the son of Oklahoma migrants, an early stint in prison and a life ...

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Haggard's biographer Marc Eliot about his book: The Hag. Haggard spent his early years going from family tragedy to odd jobs to broken marriages to petty crime to prison.

Recently I gained what I hope is a sharper understanding of the great white rage that has fueled Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and, before that, the Tea Party. Merle Haggard, the greatest ...