OldiesButGoodies

Country

“She Was the Spark Behind the Songs”: Merle Haggard Reveals the Untold Role of Bonnie Owens in His Greatest Hits and the Heartbreaking Goodbye That Followed

At Country Music Hall of Fame forum, Merle Haggard talks about Bonnie Owens - YouTube

Introduction:

In the world of country music, few songs have touched hearts as deeply or lingered in the memory as long as Merle Haggard’s “Today I Started Loving You Again.” What many may not realize, however, is that behind the song’s aching melody and timeless lyrics lies a deeply personal story—a story of love, creativity, and the lasting connection between two people who were once husband and wife.

In the late 1960s, Merle Haggard was in a creative surge. He had just married Bonnie Owens, a woman whose quiet presence and steady support would help shape some of the most iconic songs in country history. According to Haggard himself, Bonnie wasn’t just a muse—she was an active participant. “If I even indicated that I was going to write,” he once said, “she was there with a pad and a pen… there wouldn’t have been no Mama Tried or Working Man Blues if it wouldn’t have been for her.”

Their partnership was more than romantic—it was artistic. In one particularly prolific year, either 1968 or 1969, Haggard had six songs win BMI awards, and Bonnie had taken down the lyrics for each one. But the moment that would give birth to “Today I Started Loving You Again” was unexpected, and oddly simple.

After a long tour in Texas, the couple had a rare week off. While waiting at the Los Angeles airport, Merle turned to Bonnie and said, “Today I’ll start loving you again.” Bonnie, ever perceptive, replied, “What an idea for a song.” That casual moment—spoken almost in passing—would become the seed of something immortal.

Weeks later, while playing at Dewey Groom’s Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas, Haggard found himself caught up in a rough night—a long gig, a heated argument, and general exhaustion. Back in the hotel room, sitting in his shorts on the bed, he asked Bonnie to fetch him a hamburger. While she was gone, inspiration struck. Grabbing the nearest thing he could find—a torn paper bag—he wrote out the first draft of “Today I Started Loving You Again.”

Though the song would later be trimmed and refined (one extra verse was never used), it became one of Haggard’s most enduring works. He gave half the song’s rights to Bonnie as a gift. After their divorce, she was awarded another half. “Today I Started Loving You Again,” Haggard often noted, made up nearly half of his royalty earnings.

Despite their separation, Merle and Bonnie built a friendship that lasted until her death. One of the most touching moments in Haggard’s recollections was visiting her during the later stages of Alzheimer’s. She didn’t recognize him directly—but took him by the arm, led him to a room where a photo of them hung over her bed, and softly said, “He’s my favorite.”

That memory, like the song itself, speaks volumes. “Today I Started Loving You Again” was more than just a hit. It was a heartfelt confession, a moment captured in time, and a lasting tribute to the woman who helped bring it into the world.

Video:

https://youtu.be/WnppTjgwpO0?si=bMqbbhRdp4gfJSPt

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Merle Haggard’s childhood was becoming increasingly chaotic when something entered his life that would eventually change everything: a guitar. His older brother Lowell gave him one when Merle was around 12. Merle began teaching himself, absorbing the records and styles of country heroes such as Bob Wills, Lefty Frizzell and Hank Williams. There were no expensive lessons preparing him for Nashville. There was simply a troubled California kid listening closely and learning how another man’s sadness could live inside a melody. Merle would still make plenty of mistakes. Music didn’t instantly rescue him from running away, juvenile detention or eventually prison. But the guitar remained. Years later, millions would recognize Merle’s voice within seconds. Perhaps that’s because he wasn’t merely learning how to sing songs as a boy. He was slowly learning how to tell the truth about his own life.

Merle Haggard rarely needed to invent heartbreak. He had known it since childhood. In 1946, when Merle was only nine years old, his father, James Haggard, died following a stroke. For a boy who deeply needed his father’s presence, the loss became a turning point. His mother, Flossie, worked to support the family. Merle, meanwhile, became increasingly restless. He skipped school, ran away, got into trouble, and began a long journey through juvenile institutions that eventually led somewhere far darker. Looking back at his life, it is difficult not to see that nine-year-old boy behind many of the adult Merle Haggard’s songs. People later called him a rebel, an outlaw and a survivor. But before any of those labels existed, there was simply a grieving boy who had lost his dad—and never seemed to completely outrun that loss.

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