For Alan Jackson, Merle Haggard wasn’t just a country music legend — he was one of his biggest heroes. So when the two toured together, Jackson considered it an honor. But one night backstage, the Hag unknowingly took a playful swipe at something deeply personal to Alan: his mama’s pie.
It happened during a run of shows they shared. Jackson, known for making sure the catering on tour was top-notch, had brought along one of his favorite homemade desserts — his mother’s lemon icebox pie.
“One night,” Alan recalled, “we came into catering and Merle’s sitting there. Someone asked him, ‘Merle, how’s the food today?’ He said, ‘Oh, it’s pretty good… but don’t eat that goddamn yellow pie.’”
Jackson laughed as he remembered the moment. “I never did tell him that was my mama’s pie,” he said. “Merle was just that way — crazy, funny, and completely honest. You had to love him for it.”
Alan later paid tribute to Haggard by recording “That’s the Way Love Goes” on his 2021 album Where Have You Gone. The song, originally by Lefty Frizzell and famously covered by Haggard, became Jackson’s way of honoring his late friend and musical hero.
For Alan, moments like the “yellow pie” story are part of the charm and the legacy that made Merle Haggard unforgettable — not just as a performer, but as a person who could make you laugh without even trying.