Yes. As per The Guardian, Merle Haggard has seven children. Two with his fifth wife Theresa Lane (Ben and Jenessa, four children with first wife Leona Hobbs (Dana, Marty, Kelli and Noel), and a son named Scott, from another relationship (a son whom he didn't find out about until 2004).
Haggard’s teēn years were filled with troublemaking. Expulsions, arrests and juvenile halls played a prominent part of his youth.
In 1956, he married Leona Hobbs; the couple moved into his family's old converted boxcar. According to Cmt.com, throughout 1957, Haggard was plagued by financial problems, which made him turn to robbery. But got arrested. He was sentenced to a 15-year term and sent to San Quentin prison.
Nearly two years into his sentence, Haggard discovered that his wife was pregnant with another man's child. The news sent Haggard over the edge. Soon, he and his cellmate began a gambling racket and brewing beer in their cell.
He was paroled in 1960. In 1972, then–California governor Ronald Reagan expunged Haggard's criminal record, granting him a full pardon.
After prison, Merle Haggard went back to Bakersfield and worked for his brother digging ditches. He started playing lead guitar in a local country band, and by 1962, when he went to Las Vegas to back singer Wynn Stewart, Haggard had decided to make music his career.
Sadly, the country music legend died on his 79th birthday (April 6, 2024) in Palo Cedro, California, of pneumonia that he had been battling for months. One week prior to his death, Merle told his family that he was gonna pass on his birthday. Find out more at New York Post.
Tip! View Merle Haggard's Fimlography on IMDb.