Merle Haggard Passes Away On His Birthday At The Age Of 79

One of the icons of country music - if not music in general - has passed away.  Merle Haggard died this morning in his California home on what was his 79th birthday according to his manager.

Haggard was battling double-pneumonia in recent months - while weaving in and out of concert dates with Willie Nelson; the pair released an album "Django & Jimmie" last summer and had toured on and off to support it - in between issues with both of their health since.

Merle Haggard came to fame in the mid-1960's, creating the "Bakersfield Sound" along with contemporaries like Buck Owens and Wynn Stewart.  Along the way  Haggard scored more then 40 number one country singles in Billboard Magazine, headlined countless tours in the 1970's and 80's, and became the standard that everyone in the industry was compared to.

As popular as Merle was, he was also an enigma - shunning the limelight (and the trappings of his celebrity) to live on a houseboat (and later a large ranch) in northern California.  He often marched to the beat of his own drum, creating a larger-than-life persona that will never be equaled.

Haggard is survived by his wife Theresa, and six children (four from previous marriages).