Country icon Merle Haggard dies at 79

Country music legend Merle Haggard died on Wednesday, his 79th birthday, at his home in California after a battle with double pneumonia, his manager confirmed to Nashville's WSMV-TV. The Country Music Hall of Famer was influential in creating the Bakersfield sound, an influential movement in country characterized by a more raw sound. He continued making music through his pneumonia diagnosis last year, releasing an album with Willie Nelson and scheduling tour dates for 2016.Haggard was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994 and won two Grammy Awards. He is survived by his wife Theresa Ann Lane and six children.