NASHVILLE, Tenn.- Country giant Merle Haggard, who celebrated 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 was going to be on tour this week in Missouri. He was set to play Cape Girardeau Thursday, Springfield Friday and the Peabody Opera House in St. Louis on Saturday.
Haggard’s manager, Frank Mull, said the country icon died in Palo Cedro, California, of pneumonia.
A masterful guitarist, fiddler and songwriter as well as singer, the Country Music Hall of Famer recorded for more than40 years, releasing dozens of albums and No. 1 hits
