Country music legend Merle Haggard dies on 79th birthday

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’s manager, Frank Mull, said the country icon died in Palo Cedro, California, of pneumonia.TMZ reported Haggard was diagnosed with pneumonia last year and spent 11 days in the hospital.

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