How much was Merle Haggard worth?
| Net Worth: | $45 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Singer |
| Date of Birth: | April 6, 1937 |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 1.75 m |
About Merle Haggard
The estimated net worth of Merle Ronald Haggard, an American country music performer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016), is $45 million. Merle Haggard received numerous accolades and awards for his contributions to country music. Along with being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, this includes receiving a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Merle Haggard’s reputation as a songwriter and performer may put him on par with Jimmie Rodgers and Johnny Cash, two of the greatest country musicians of all time (both major influences).
Even though they disregarded New Country conventions, Haggard’s albums from the 1960s received positive reviews in the twenty-first century. On April 6, 1937, Merle Haggard was born in Bakersfield, California. Merle’s straightforward upbringing and the rural surroundings of the city would be prominent themes in his lyrics.
Raised by his pious mother Flossie, Merle was a disobedient child who frequently got into issues with the law. Merle’s father Jim was a self-taught musician who passed away when he was only nine years old. It was a horrific blow that left a permanent mark on Merle and set him on his errant course.
Haggard made an attempt to rob a restaurant in 1957 after spending time in and out of reform facilities as a youth. Because of the lower charge of burglary, he was sent to San Quentin. After seeing Johnny Cash sing at the penitentiary, Merle made the decision to pursue a career in music. Up until that point, he had only performed in small clubs for beer money and for his buddies.
Haggard continued his music with newfound zeal after being released from prison in 1950 and was hired as a guitarist in Las Vegas. In 1962, more than ten years later, Haggard signed his first record deal. After a string of hit singles, he switched from Tally Records to Capitol Records, where Strangers, his debut long-player, was published in 1965.
Haggard’s smash singles “The Bottle Let Me Down,” “I’m a Lonesome Fugitive,” and “Swinging Doors” launched the performer to popularity in the country music industry in 1966. Longtime Nashville musician Roy Nichols’ twitchy fretwork gave the songs their distinctive sound and set them apart from other Nashville fare.
Haggard stirred up controversy during the Vietnam War with the hawkish song “Okie from Muskogee” (from which he later distanced himself), which was followed by the audacious patriotic song “Fighting Side of Me.”
For the majority of the 1960s and 1970s, Haggard continued to have success songs, but by the 1990s, he was viewed as being outdated in comparison to more modern, younger musicians like Garth Brooks and Clint Black.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Merle Haggard never really disappeared, but in the 2000s, a string of gritty albums saw him return with a vengeance. If I Could Only Fly, one of Haggard’s best albums in years, was released after he left Curb Records and signed with the punk-focused Anti Records.
The albums that came next, including The Bluegrass Sessions and Roots, Vol. 1, garnered some of his best reviews in a long time even though the Nashville establishment gave them little airtime or attention.
In 2015, Haggard received treatment for pneumonia at an unnamed hospital in California. Although he appeared to be improving, a number of concerts were cancelled. Then, in 2016, Haggard underwent another hospitalization for his persistent double pneumonia. He passed away at his home in Palo Cedro, Shasta County, California, on April 6, 2016, his 79th birthday. The value of Merle Haggard’s estate was $45 million at the time of his passing in 2016.
