Singer Merle Haggard was champion of the underdog

Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

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 Muskogee” and “Sing Me Back Home,” died Wednesday at 79, on his birthday.

Haggard’s manager, Frank Mull, said the country icon died in Palo Cedro, Calif., of pneumonia that he had been battling for months. His publicist, Tresa Redburn, said no official cause of death has been determined.

He had kept up an ambitious touring schedule, but the pneumonia in both lungs had forced him to cancel several shows this year. Mull said his family was by his side when he died at home, and they were planning a funeral for Saturday at his home.

Haggard last visited the Mahoning Valley for a Sept. 10 concert at Packard Music Hall in Warren. That concert originally was scheduled for June 25 but was moved back because the singer was recuperating from an outpatient medical procedure.

He performed for an hour with his longtime backup band, The Strangers.

A masterful guitarist, fiddler and songwriter as well as singer, the Country Music Hall of Famer with the firm, direct baritone recorded for more than 40 years, releasing dozens of albums and No. 1 hits.

“He was my brother, my friend. I will miss him,” said Willie Nelson, his longtime friend, in a statement. Tanya Tucker recalled fondly the time they ate bologna sandwiches by the river: “I just can’t imagine a world without Merle. It’s so hard to accept, but I’ll continue honoring him on stage just as I do during every show.”

The White House called Haggard a “legend” and said President Barack Obama was sending his thoughts and prayers to Haggard’s family. White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Haggard told stories that people from all walks of American life could relate to.

Haggard – along with fellow California country star Buck Owens – was a founder of the twangy Bakersfield Sound, a direct contrast to the smooth, string-laden country records popular in Nashville, Tenn., in the 1960s.

His music was rough yet sensitive, reflecting on childhood, marriage and daily struggles, telling stories of shame and redemption, or just putting his foot down in “The Fightin’ Side of Me” and “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink.”

His most-beloved songs included the prison ballad “Sing Me Back Home,” the tributes to his mother, “Mama Tried” and “Hungry Eyes,” the romantic lament “Today I Started Loving You Again” and such blue-collar chronicles as “If We Make It Through December” and “Workin’ Man Blues.”

“We’ve lost one of the greatest writers and singers of all time. His heart was as tender as his love ballads,” said Dolly Parton. “I loved him like a brother.”

Few faces in country were as recognizable as Haggard’s, with its wary, sideways glance and chiseled, haunted features that seemed to bear every scar from his past.

General audiences knew him best for “Okie From Muskogee,” a patriotic anthem released in 1969 at the height of the Vietnam War that quickly became a cultural touchstone for its anti-hippie lyrics proclaiming “we don’t burn our draft cards down on Main Street; we like living right and being free.”

In 1970, Haggard was named entertainer of the year by the Country Music Association, and “Okie From Muskogee” won best album and single. The No. 1 hits “Mama Tried” and “Workin’ Man Blues” also broke onto the charts around that time, sealing his reputation as one of country’s defining voices. He picked up another CMA album of the year in 1972 for “Let Me Tell You About a Song.”

He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994, the same year he won a Grammy for best male country vocal performance in “That’s the Way Love Goes.”