Country musician Merle Haggard, who died Wednesday at age 79, overcame early brushes with the law — and was pardoned by Ronald Reagan. He's seen here backstage in the late 1970's, for a taping of the Merv Griffin Show in Los Angeles. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images hide caption
Country music singer Kacey Musgraves says she's not "pageant material." But she holds her own in a game of Mad Scientist with Shankar Vedantam on this week's episode of Hidden Brain. Wade Payne/AP hide caption
Singer and songwriter Ronnie Milsap is a new inductee into the Country Music Hall Of Fame in Nashville, Tenn. Rick Diamond/Getty Images hide caption
Raeanne Rubenstein first photographed Johnny Cash at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn. "It was just the most amazing experience," she says. Raeanne Rubenstein hide caption
Ray Price performs during Stagecoach: California's Country Music Festival 2010 held at The Empire Polo Club on April 24, 2010 in Indio, California. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images hide caption
Country singer Randy Travis at the CMA Music Festival in Nashville on June 7. Terry Wyatt /UPI/Landov hide caption
Slim Whitman arriving at Heathrow Airport in 1976. Evening Standard/Getty Images hide caption
George Jones in the late 1980s. Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption