Merle Haggard was one of the most influential country music musicians who ever lived. His astonishing musical career stretched across the second half of the 20th century and into the first two decades of the next, during which he released an extraordinary 63 albums, 38 that made it on to Billboard's Country Top Ten, 13 that went to #1, and 37 #1 hit singles.

Merle changed country music as much as country music redeemed him. A childhood trauma-his father's death when he was only 9-set him off on a life of petty thievery, running away, and other assorted acts of rebellion that led him to a 15-year sentence at San Quentin penitentiary. There he befriended Caryl Chessman, whose execution was a forewarning to Merle he'd better change his ways. When Johnny Cash performed at the prison, Merle was in the audience, and credited that moment with helping him to turn things around. Eight years later, he was the biggest star in country music.

THE HAG: The Life, Times, and Music of Merle Haggard tells, without compromise, the extraordinary life of Haggard, augmented by deep secondary research, sharp detail, and ample never-been-told anecdotal material that acclaimed biographer Marc Eliot is known for, and enriched and deepened by over 100 new and far-ranging interviews