SO SAD to hear of the death of Merle Haggard

March 2014 at Whitewater Amphitheater

My original post is below, but tragically I just found out that Merle Haggard passed away today... I will add more information later if some becomes available...

Ben Haggard

Here is a post from Ben Haggard's Facebook page at 1pm today:
"A week ago dad told us he was gonna pass on his birthday, and he wasn't wrong. A hour ago he took his last breath surrounded by family and friends. He loved everything about life and he loved that everyone of you gave him a chance with his music. He wasn't just a country singer.. He was the best country singer that ever lived."

--original post--
Merle Haggard turns 79 today, join me in wishing him a happy birthday and speedy recovery from some recent health crud he's been dealing with that forced him to cancel shows in both March and April so far this year. Sorry that he won't be at Whitewater later this month, but I wish him well and hope to see him on stage again real soon!

Here's some video from that 2014 performance at Whitewater...