Born 63 Years Ago in Bakersfield, the Son of a Country Legend Who Followed in His Father’s Footsteps in More Ways Than One

On this day (September 4) in 1963, Noel Haggard was born in Bakersfield, California. The youngest son of Merle Haggard and his first wife, Leona Hobbs, he began performing with his father as a teenager. Since starting his solo career in the late 1990s, he has released one album and charted two singles. He also regularly toured with his father as an opening act, backed by the Strangers.

Merle Haggard has one of the most captivating and inspirational origin stories in country music. He grew up in poverty and turned to petty crime as a teen. Eventually, that path led him to spend a few years in San Quentin before getting his life on track and becoming a country superstar. Unfortunately, his son followed his father’s path. However, he never reached the same highs or lows.

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In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, he revealed that he didn’t really know his father until he was almost an adult. “He worked most of the time–250 to 300 days a year he was gone, so we really didn’t know him too well,” he said. “We’d have to get to know him all over again every time he’d come home. It wasn’t until I went on the road with him when I was about 18 that I really spent any time with him.”

Noel Haggard Learned a Valuable Lesson

Merle Haggard may have been on the road for most of Noel’s childhood, but that didn’t mean he didn’t teach at least one very important lesson.

The younger Haggard was heavily into drugs and alcohol as a teenager. When he was 17, he went on a joyride that ended in a brief stint behind bars. His dad let him sit and think about what he’d done.

“I was about 17 years old, and I had been out with the boys at a keg party or something. I came home and [Merle] always left the keys in the car around the house. He had bought a brand-new Toyota four wheel drive special. It was fully loaded with everything,” he recalled. “So I took it for a little joy ride. We lived in Redding, California, at the time. I headed towards Bakersfield. The next morning, I woke up, got my head right, and said, ‘Oh, I’d better get home.’ I didn’t make it. The cops picked me up.”

His friend who was in the truck with him didn’t stay long. His parents bailed him out. However, that wasn’t the case for Haggard. His dad let him sit in a cell for a week. When he got out, his dad gave him the truck and a job.

After performing and touring with his father for more than a decade, Noel Haggard inked a deal with Atlantic Records. He released One Lifetime in 1997. The album’s two singles–“Once You Learn” and “Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa”–both peaked at No. 75 on the country chart.

He currently performs with his younger brother, Ben Haggard.

Featured Image by Chris McKay/WireImage

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