Country Music Legend Merle Haggard Passes Away At 79

Country music legend Merle Haggard passed away after struggling with a series of health problems. Today also happened to be his 79th birthday.

Haggard’s manager, Frank Mull, said the country icon died in Palo Cedro, California, of pneumonia that he had been battling for months. He had kept up an ambitious touring schedule, but the pneumonia in both lungs had forced him to cancel several shows this year.

I grew up listening Haggard’s music. Years ago, my dad was in a country road band, and I always wanted to play the fiddle like him. I got my first fiddle when turned 9, and “Big City” was one of the first “grown-up” songs I learned to play.

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RIP, Merle.