Friday, December 6, 2024

Merle Haggard, Country Poet of the Common Man, Dies on His 79th Birthday

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The great country singer songwriter Merle Haggard has died at age 79.

Between 1966 and 1987, Haggard and his band had 38 number 1 songs on the Billboard country charts thirty three more hit the top 10.My favorite of his songs, “Today I Started Loving You Again,” has been covered by 400 different performers including the Everly Brothers and Rufus Thomas.

Here’s a great obit from the Bakersfield, California newspaper.

 

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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