Merle Haggard’s Final Song, ‘Kern River Blues,’ Premieres at Willie’s Roadhouse
Merle’s family wanted to find a way to thank his fans for the tremendous outpouring of love and prayers.
On April 6, 2016, the world lost a legend. Merle Haggard, who had been battling pneumonia for months, passed away on his 79th birthday. In the months leading up to his death, the country icon was forced to cancel a couple of tours after it was suggested he take a break from the road and rest up. But of course, Merle couldn’t stay away from music for too long and would walk across the road to his studio to record new material he’d written while in the hospital.
On February 9, he recorded his final song, titled “Kern River Blues,” which was a rumination on leaving Bakersfield in the 1970s set to a shuffling Jimmie Rodgers blues rhythm. The song includes such poignant lyrics as, “The blues back in the ’30s [is] just like the blues today,” and, “They used to have Kern River runnin’ deep and wide, then somebody stole the water, another politician lied.”
Merle’s family wanted to find a way to thank his fans for the tremendous outpouring of love and prayers. They decided to release the song and premiere it on Willie Nelson’s exclusive SiriusXM channel, Willie’s Roadhouse, which was temporarily renamed Merle’s Roadhouse for the weekend following his death.
After host Dallas Wayne debuts “Kern River Blues” at 5pm ET on May 12, the song will become available at MerleHaggard.com and iTunes for purchase, with 10 percent of all gross proceeds going to homeless charities.
