Update on Legend Merle Haggard’s Health[Video]

(From AP)

Country music legend Merle Haggard remains in a  Georgia hospital suffering from pneumonia and his staff has been forced to postpone the rest of his concert dates in January,  according to his spokeswoman.

The 74-year-old "Okie from Muskogee"  was admitted to  the Macon hospital  Tuesday night after he canceled a show there seven minutes before he was to take the stage because he was too ill to perform, said Frank Mull, his tour manager and close friend.

A member of the Country Music Hall of Fame,  Haggard is best known for songs including "Mama Tried," and "The Fightin' Side of Me."

Haggard had been scheduled to perform again last  night in Columbus, Georgia, but that show and the rest of the January slate will be rescheduled for April, according to Haggard's Los Angeles-based publicist Tresa Redburn.

Redburn said the singer was receiving fluids intravenously. She said she spoke with Haggard by telephone "and he sounded pretty good."

Haggard will take time off to recover and resume his tour in February, Redburn said. Haggard lives in Northern California.

The singer was sick when he left his California home to begin the tour, but did not want to disappoint his fans, Mull said. "He thought he was well enough to work and he did work three dates, and he got progressively worse," Mull said.

Haggard is one of the creators of country music's "Bakersfield Sound."  His influences were Lefty Frizzell, Bob Wills and Jimmie Rodgers.