Country star Merle Haggard dies on 79th birthday

REDDING, Calif., April 6 (UPI) -- Country music icon Merle Haggard died Wednesday after suffering a bout of pneumonia. It was his 79th birthday.

The singer-songwriter and member of the Outlaw Country movement and pioneer of the Bakersfield Sound died at his home near Redding, Calif., TMZ reported.

His manager said Haggard had been battling pneumonia for some time, having spent 11 days in the hospital earlier this year. The singer, who recently released a joint album with Willie Nelson titled Django and Jimmie, had canceled most of his shows for the rest of 2016 in order to recover.

Haggard's "Mama Tried" was recently chosen for preservation in the National Recording Registry alongside American favorites like Billy Joel's "Piano Man" and Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive."