Merle Haggard

The strangers are the longest-running, most exciting band in country music, a wiry, daredevil outfit that specializes in a swinging hybrid of country and jazz. Haggard formed the Strangers in 1965. Three of its members—drummer Biff Adam, steel-guitar player Norm Hamlet and horn man Don Markham—have been in the group for more than 35 years.