Watch Willie Nelson’s Flawless Rendition Of Merle Haggard’s “Today I Started Loving You Again” At The Hag’s 2010 Kennedy Center Honors Induction

Flawless.

Back in 2010, Merle Haggard was part of the Kennedy Center Honors class, and of course, some of his fellow country artists showed up to pay tribute to The Hag on a very special evening. Miranda Lambert and Kris Kristofferson and Miranda Lambert teamed up for a beautiful rendition of Merle’s classic “Silver Wings,” Vince Gill and Brad Paisley sang “Workin’ Man Blues,” and Merle’s good friend Willie Nelson joined Sheryl Crowe for a gorgeous performance of “Today I Started Loving You Again.”

The famous story goes that Merle wrote the song for his second wife, Bonnie Owens, after they’d been out on tour together and were able to reconnect as a couple, he says:

“‘Today I Started Loving You Again’ was written for her. We’d been on a long tour down in Texas, we’d been down there 90-something days, and we got a week off and then we had to come back and do 45 more days.

And we took this week off, and we flew home and we were in the L.A. airport, and I said, ‘You know, we haven’t had much time to say hello’, talking to her. I said, ‘Today I started loving you again. I had time to start loving you again.’”

And like a true business woman, she responded with this:

“What a great idea for a song.”

He first included the beautiful track on his 1968 record The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde, and it also appeared on the tracklist for his 1970 album The Fightin’ Side of Me.

It became an instantly recognizable country classic (though it never peaked in the Top 10 on the country charts), that was later covered by other legends like Waylon Jennings, Conway Twitty, Kenny Rogers and plenty of other artists over the years. Once Merle and Bonnie were back on the Texas tour after that week-long break ended, one night, Merle asked her to go get him a hamburger. He wrote out the song on the paper bag his food came in that night:

“I had written ‘Today I Started Loving You Again’ on this paper bag… tore it open and wrote it on there. There was another verse that we never did use. When I get a royalty check, all the songs that I’ve written make up about half of the money. And ‘Today I Started Loving You Again’ is the rest of the money, and I only get 12% of it.

I’d written it for her, so I gave her half of it to begin with. Then we got our divorce, and she got another half.”

It’s such a beautiful story, and during the Kennedy Center presentation, Merle’s lifelong friend Willie Nelson was also there to honor him.

Of course, the two of them were very close friends for over 50 years, and first met in Nashville in the early 60’s, of course, during a poker game at Willie’s house. This was before either of them went back home, Merle to Bakersfield and Willie to Texas, and they had an instant connection.

Joined by Sheryl Crow on this date in 2010, Willie paid tribute to Merle with a gorgeous performance of one of his most timeless hits, “Today I Started Loving You Again,” and it’s a must-see if you haven’t watched it before.

The full ceremony is available to watch below, including all of the performances, and it’s a great way to honor the legacy of the late, great Merle Haggard:

Speaking Willie and Merle, Willie just put out a lovely tribute album for his late friend and fellow country legend, Workin’ Man: Willie Sings Merle. The tracklist features a bunch of Merle hits like “Silver Wings,” “Okie From Muskogee,” “Swingin’ Doors,” and many more. Wille produced the record alongside longtime bandmate, his harmonica player and friend Mickey Raphael, and it was recorded at Nelson’s Pedernales Studios in Austin.

It also features the final recordings he did with his sister Bobbie Nelson and drummer Paul English, which makes it that much more special. With Bobbie on piano and English behind the drum kit, the project also features Raphael on harmonica, Kevin Smith on bass and Paul’s brother Billy English on additional drums and percussion.

“Silver Wings”

“Today I Started Loving You Again”

“Mama Tried”

“If We Make It Through December”

“I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink”

 The post Watch Willie Nelson’s Flawless Rendition Of Merle Haggard’s “Today I Started Loving You Again” At The Hag’s 2010 Kennedy Center Honors Induction first appeared on Whiskey Riff.