MerleHaggard

Merle Haggard, who criticized pot-smokers in his 1969 hit 'Okie From Muskogee,' is now coming clean with his own battle with marijuana. What began as a doctor-suggested alternative to Valium turned into an addiction that the 71-year-old country legend has tried to quit in the past...

Merle Haggard is home from the hospital, following lung surgery. His publicist reveals that the 71-year-old country legend had non-small cell lung cancer, which has a better rate of survival than small cell cancer. Tests show that doctors were able to remove the affected tissue in the successful surgery, and the Hag has no more signs of cancer...

Merle Haggard is recuperating in a Bakersfield, Calif. hospital, following surgery to remove a malignant tumor on his lung. While initially refusing treatment after his diagnosis in May, the 71-year-old country icon was persuaded by family and friends to have the operation...

'If We Make It Through December' -- Merle Haggard (1973) The bottom lines: "I don't mean to hate December/It's meant to be the happy time of year/And my little girl don't understand/Why Daddy can't afford no Christmas here." After he gets laid off, Haggard's protagonist worries less for himself than for his daughter...

'Carolyn' --Merle Haggard (1972) Wandering Words: "I believe a man will do that sometimes out of spite, but, Carolyn, a man will do that always when he's treated bad at home." Haggard broaches the subject of infidelity to his wife by saying he's "heard about a man" who sees other women to make him feel "warm...