Merle Haggard - Merle Haggard Hospitalized Before Georgia Show

The veteran's tour manager Frank Mull has admitted that it was always going to be touch and go whether Haggard would be well enough to play the date, admitting "He thought he was well enough to work and he did work three dates, and he got progressively worse." It's unsure as yet as to whether dates will be postponed or cancelled on a tour that's set to run all the way into April - just an example of the 74 year-old's ambitions despite his advancing years.

Haggard, as stated, has been having a prolific few years, releasing nine albums in the past 11 years. Credited as the originator of the 'Baskerfield Sound,' a country style that's gone on to be one of the most popular of the past half century, his is a name still held in reverence by stars young and old.