Country legend Merle Haggard has pneumonia, cancels concerts

County music legend Merle Haggard has pneumonia, which has forced him to cancel the rest of his scheduled January tour dates.

Show promoter Mike Blackwell told The Columbus Ledger-Inquirer about the 74-year-old musician’s illness, which forced him to cancel Wednesday’s show at the Columbus, GA Civic Center. Blackwell added that Haggard was hospitalized in Macon, GA on Tuesday.

Blackwell also said that dates in Columbia, SC on Sunday and in Macon on Tuesday had to be cancelled as well because of the illness.

Publicist Tresa Redburn told The Associated Press that she was able to talk to the Country Music Hall of Fame member by phone Wednesday.

Tour manager Frank Mull told the Ledger-Inquirer that the Macon show had been cancelled just seven minutes before the scheduled 7:30 p.m. start on Tuesday. Mull added that Haggard has been feeling ill since he left his Northern California home to begin the tour of the Southeast.

Haggard’s remaining shows in January include dates in Ft. Worth and Tulsa. According to CMT, Haggard was last kept from touring in 2008 when he underwent surgery to treat lung cancer in 2008. He went back on the road in 2009. In October, he released a new album called Working in Tennessee.

Haggard has been recording professionally since 1962 and had his first #1 single in 1967 with “The Fugitive,” according to his website.