Merle Haggard

For anyone interested in serious drinking, Merle Haggard’s music is the perfect accompaniment. With songs like “The Bottle Let Me Down,” “Bar Room Buddies” and “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink,” he isn’t afraid to talk about the unhappiness and disappointments in life (like being married five times or doing time at San Quentin as a young man). Now 77, Haggard is still out there, writing and performing soulful tunes, singing for the outlaw cowboy set. With his distinctive yodel of a voice and pickin’ on his guitar and fiddle, he’s in every way a living legend, having been awarded every music honor.