Celebrating the Life and Legend of Merle Haggard: The Ram Report
A look inside the current issue of Rolling Stone, featuring country's greatest outlaw on its cover
“The spirit of the American people is the only thing that can save America,” Merle Haggard told Rolling Stone Managing Editor Jason Fine in an interview for the magazine a few years ago. “Not the spirit of America, the spirit of the American people. If we rise up and take this country back, as we’ve done in the past – that’s our only hope.”
Politics, police, extraterrestrials. . . It seems nothing was off limits during Haggard and Fine’s several chats over the last decade of the country icon’s life. Those conversations are chronicled in a moving piece in the current issue of Rolling Stone, which hits newsstands April 22nd. Featuring Haggard on its cover, the issue also takes an in-depth look at the storied journey that ultimately led to the California native becoming one of the most revered, most emulated, most iconic country musicians of all time. Additionally, friends including Willie Nelson and Tom Waits offer tributes to the late singer in the pages of the magazine.
Merle Haggard died April 6th on his 79th birthday.