One of the true outlaws of country, Merle Haggard escaped his checkered past to pursue his true passion. Born in Bakersfield, California in 1937, Haggard strayed to a life of crime at an early age when his father passed away. His anger and grief was channeled into both petty crime and a guitar given to him by his older brother, though gradually the former took over more of his life. He found himself in and out of juvenile detention centers, and in 1957 Haggard was arrested for robbery and sent to San Quentin for a 10-year sentence. While in the joint, he attended three Johnny Cash performances, inspiring him to straighten up his life. After earning a high school equivalence diploma, keeping a steady job in the prison's textile plant and playing in the prison's band, Haggard saw an early release in 1960. By 1972, Governor Ronald Reagan issued Haggard a full pardon.

Haggard and his band, The Strangers, helped create the Bakersfield sound in country music as a reaction to the overly slick Nashville sound. In 1977, Haggard became inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and later into the Country Music Hall of Fame (no wonder with 38 #1 hits!). He was awarded a Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 1984, and in 2006 he was honored by the Kern County Board of Supervisors of Oildale, California who approved the renaming of a local street to Merle Haggard Drive.