Celebrity
Merle Haggard dead: Country music legend dies on 79th birthday
Merle Haggard
Merle Haggard performs on stage during the 2015 Stagecoach Festival at the EmpireClub on Friday, April 24, 2015, in Indio, Calif.
(Paul A. Hebert | Invision | AP)
Country music legend Merle Haggard is dead, his manager announced Wednesday.
According to TMZ, Haggard died at his California home on his 79th birthday Wednesday after a recurring battle with double pneumonia. He was diagnosed with pneumonia last year and struggled to continue touring with Willie Nelson after spending 11 days in the hospital earlier this year.
The singer-songwriter, who played guitar and fiddle, released more than 40 studio albums, focusing on themes of outlaws, blue-collar underdogs and American pride. He inspired generations of modern country artists, including Toby Keith, Alan Jackson and Brooks & Dunn.
Haggard was named Entertainer of the Year by the CMAs in 1970 and inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994. According to the Tennessean, he brought a 5-foot-long list of people he wanted to thank, beginning with his plumber, for his induction speech.
He was also given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006 and received Kennedy Center Honors in 2010.
Haggard is survived by his wife, Theresa, whom he married in 1993, and six children.