Introduction:
Merle Haggard is widely regarded as one of the greatest figures in the history of country music. His voice, his songwriting, and his honesty helped define the genre, not through perfection, but through lived experience. Few artists were as willing as Haggard to transform personal struggle into enduring art. Among the many chapters of his complex life, none is more moving than the story of his relationship with his second wife, Bonnie Owens, and the final moment they shared before her passing.
Haggard was married five times, and he never hid the challenges that came with those relationships. Yet his marriage to Bonnie Owens, from 1965 to 1978, stood apart. Bonnie was not only his wife but also a gifted musician in her own right. She won the ACM Female Vocalist of the Year award in 1965, the same year she married Haggard, and soon began touring with him while helping raise his children from a previous marriage.
In later interviews, Haggard openly credited Bonnie as one of the most important creative forces in his career. During one of the most productive periods of his life, she was constantly by his side, ready with a notepad whenever inspiration struck. If Haggard even hinted that a lyric was forming, Bonnie was there to capture every word. According to him, some of his most iconic songs, including “Mama Tried” and “Workin’ Man Blues,” would never have existed without her. In 1968 and 1969 alone, Haggard earned six BMI awards, and Bonnie had written down every one of those songs as they came to life.
One of the most beloved songs in Haggard’s catalog, “Today I Started Loving You Again,” was also written for Bonnie. After months on a long Texas tour, the couple finally had a brief break at home. While standing together in the Los Angeles airport, Haggard turned to her and said the words that would become the song’s title. True to her practical and business-minded nature, Bonnie immediately replied that it was a great idea for a song. Later, Haggard famously wrote the lyrics on a paper bag while waiting for a hamburger during another tour stop. Though the song never reached the top ten on the charts, it became a country classic, later recorded by legends such as Waylon Jennings, Conway Twitty, and Kenny Rogers.
After their divorce, Haggard and Bonnie came to a difficult but honest realization: they were never meant to remain married. Yet something deeper survived. They built a lasting friendship that endured until Bonnie’s death in 2006. In one of the most heartbreaking moments Haggard ever shared publicly, he recalled visiting Bonnie near the end of her life as she battled Alzheimer’s disease. She led him to her room and proudly showed him a large photograph of the two of them together, telling others nearby that the man in the picture was her favorite—without realizing it was Merle himself.
It was a moment that captured the fragile beauty of memory, love, and loss. Even as names and identities faded, the feeling remained. In the end, their story stands as a reminder that some bonds transcend marriage, time, and even memory itself.