Background
He is the son of singer-songwriter Merle Haggard. Between 1981 and 1987, Haggard charted five singles on the Hot Country Songs charts, in addition to performing in his father"s road band. Marty Haggard was born June 18, 1958 in Bakersfield, California.
At the time that Marty Haggard was born, his father, Merle Haggard, was serving time in San Quentin State Prison.
Marty Haggard was raised by his grandmother in a railroad boxcar, but by the time the younger Haggard was 12, he had moved in with his father.
Career
He was named after Marty Robbins. He began an acting career in his teens. He had a recurring role in the Columbia Broadcasting System drama The Fitzpatricks, and a bit part in a television movie starring Henry Fonda.
While driving to the filming location of the television movie, he stopped for a hitchhiker who then shot him and left him for dead.
A wounded Haggard drove for 15 miles before spotting a 13-year-old girl who called an ambulance for him. He recovered fully, but later developed an infection in the bullet wounds which required further surgery.
Musical career
Later, he worked on an oil field He signed with Dimension Records in 1979 and released one single, "Charleston Cotton Mill", which spent three weeks on the Hot Country Songs charts in 1981.
At his father"s request, Haggard joined his road band, in which he sang harmony and played rhythm guitar.
Marty was arrested in 1983 for cocaine possession, but the charges were later dropped. He decided to begin a solo career again in 1985. He then signed with Media Technology Monitor Records, for which he released four singles under the production of Billy Strange.
The most successful of these was "Trains Make Maine Lonesome", which peaked at number 57 on the country charts, and which helped him receive a nomination for Top New Male Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music.
"Trains Make Maine Lonesome" was covered by George Strait on his 1992 album Holding My Own. By 1986, Haggard was married for six years to Shree and had two daughters.
After the Media Technology Monitor singles, Haggard was seriously injured in a car accident, suffering head injury and memory loss which required four years of recovery. He signed to Critique Records in 1995 and began recording Christian-themed music
His first Christian album, Borders & Boundaries, was released in 1996, with "Amnesia" and "Here in the Afterlife" as the singles.
After stopping at a church in Conway, Arkansas, Haggard decided to take up music ministry. Haggard has since married Tessa, and had one son named Jamey with her. He has also released two tribute albums to his father.