Merle Haggard Left His Life of Crime After a Fateful Encounter

What's you're favorite Merle Haggard song, and did you know that he spent the first couple decades of his life in and out of prison?

▬Contents of this video▬
00:00 - Intro
01:36 - Born In A Boxcar
04:38 - Merle Owed Johnny Cash Almost Everything
06:45 - Ronald Reagan Pardoned Haggard
07:52 - Outro

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Merle Haggard is one of the greatest country music stars of all time. Throughout his storied life and career, he had dozens of number-one hits on the US country charts – many of which also made it to the top of Billboard's all-genre singles chart.

For his many contributions to the world of country music, Haggard was honored with numerous awards and accolades including a Kennedy Center Honor in 2010, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006, and a BMI Icon Award in 2006. In 1977, Merle was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and in 1994, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Throughout his fifty-plus years in the music business, Haggard collaborated with fellow country legends like George Jones, Willie Nelson, Buck Owens, and even Clint Eastwood!

Haggard was instrumental in popularizing the genre of outlaw country. Known for challenging the Nashville status quo with his iconic Bakersfield sound, Merle always pushed the limits while remaining uncompromisingly true to himself. From his first studio album, Strangers, in 1965 which gave us classic tracks like My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers and The Bottle Let Me Down to the 2015s Willie Nelson collaboration with Django & Jimmie, it seems like everything that Haggard touched turned to gold.

As impossible as it might be to imagine what the country music genre would look like without him, it blows your mind when you realize just how close Merle got to never making his first big break. The legend nearly failed to launch after getting sent to prison as a young man. During his young buck days, Merle Haggard lived out the country outlaw lifestyle unapologetically. Fortunately, a string of events led him to eventually hop back on the straight and narrow.

Merle Haggard Left His Life of Crime After a Fateful Encounter