The lines in his face look like a road map to hard times. The lines in his songs speak of hard times for common folks like him. I made those observations talking to Merle Haggard back when he was only ...

Before “Okie From Muskogee” became his signature song and before “If We Make It Through December” became his biggest crossover hit, Merle Haggard’s best-known song was the one where he came clean ...

Country giant Merle Haggard, who rose from poverty and prison to international fame through his songs about outlaws, underdogs and an abiding sense of national pride in such hits as "Okie From ...

Merle Haggard is a country music icon. He wrote, recorded, and released some of the most memorable songs in the genre’s history. Songs like “Mama Tried,” “If We Make It Through December,” “Sliver ...

The late great Merle Haggard and George Strait are both country music icons in their own right. Today, many consider Strait to be the King of County. And it sure makes sense why. He’s still producing ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. A powerful country song that captured the tensions of its time climbed to the top of the charts on this day in 1970. Merle Haggard ...

Kansas City author David Cantwell, who just published a new version of a book he wrote years ago, says Merle Haggard was 'constantly singing about the things that we're still arguing about today.' ...

Merle Haggard and Jenessa Haggard backstage during the second annual ACM Honors at Schermerhorn Symphony Center on September 22, 2009 in Nashville ; Merle Haggard with wife Theresa and son Ben arrives ...

Not that one really needs a reason to listen to Merle Haggard. But with the opening of the new Bakersfield Sound exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, that's exactly what I've been ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Willie Nelson, 92, has a history of making entire albums that revive and reimagine the works of single songwriters. And he's done ...

You can go in many directions when compiling a list of the all-time best country music songs. Which criteria do you use? Record sales, most streamed, most googled, number of weeks on the country ...

AP File photo by Rick Bowmer -- In this May 28, 2003 file photo, country music legend Merle Haggard smiles during a news conference at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in ...