Most holiday songs celebrate joy, family and festive cheer. In 1973, Merle Haggard took a very different approach.

The track’s origins tell a much different story than its chart success suggests, adding to its fascinating legacy.

New York Times best-selling author Marc Eliot knew the subject of his latest released biography, "The Hag: The Life, Times, and Music of Merle Haggard," for 25 years before his death in 2016. The ...

Country legend Merle Haggard went to play at the great honky-tonk in the sky 10 years ago. He died April 6, 2016, during a ...

Merle Haggard’s legacy lives on. When the country music legend passed away on April 6, 2016, his three sons, Marty, Noel and Ben -- who are all country singers -- wasted no time picking up their ...

Country music’s outlaw legend Merle Haggard died on his 70th birthday. Haggard began playing guitar shortly after his final stint in jail in 1960 and released his first single in 1963. And last year, ...

Following Merle Haggard's death on April 6, Vince Gill tweeted out a sweet remembrance of the country icon's influence on his own career: "He was my greatest inspiration. He was IT for me." It didn't ...

Merle Haggard’s songs always seemed to channel the people he sang for through his 79 years: blue-collar workers, prison inmates, forlorn lovers and everyday Americans looking for signs of reassurance ...

Merle Haggard died on Wednesday (April 6) -- his 79th birthday -- after a brief struggle with pneumonia. “I’m really lucky to be alive,” Haggard said in February. “… I had a pain that went all the way ...

Merle Haggard has passed away, but his musical legacy remains in the form of some of the most important songs in country music history. The legendary musician was not only instrumental in creating the ...

Honky-tonk hero Merle Haggard's death yesterday (April 6) impacted more than just the country-music community. His influence reached deep into the rock realm, too. The boys from Jacksonville, Fla., ...