Whatever Happened To Hee Haw’s The Hager Twins?

We had a few "must see" shows when I was growing up on the farm by Leota, Minnesota.  Actually, now that I think about it, it was probably dad's "must see" shows and the rest of us were along for the ride!

Let's see, there was "Gunsmoke".  "Bonanza".  Okay, just about any and all of the western's.  "Beverly Hillbillies", "Petticoat Junction", "Ed Sullivan Show".  Pretty much the same things everyone else watched.

And, of course, "Hee-Haw".. Was it a high-brow show?  Nope.  Corny? Absolutely and they promoted it that way.  Each week Roy and Buck would host, a full cast of characters would show up and the biggest star's in Country Music would sing a tune or two.

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Part of that cast each week were the Hagar Twins, Jon and Jim. They'd take part in some of the skit's, join the whole gang for a fun sing-a-long and sometimes would sing a duet. But whatever they did, we loved them.

So who were these guys and whatever happened to them?

Jon and Jim were born in Chicago and were adopted by a Methodist minister and his wife. After a stint in the military the identical twins moved to California and began performing in club's with the likes of The Carpenters, John Denver, Steve Martin and Kenny Rogers.  Buck Owens saw them at Disneyland and signed them to Capital Records. And so it was off to Nashville.

The Hager's recorded a number of albums and singles but none of them were national hits.  But it was "Hee-Haw" that made the boys star's and they became a part of one of the biggest hit shows in television history.

Sadly, Jim Hager died of a heart attack on May 1st, 2008 in Nashville.  He was 66.  And his brother Jon Hager passed away in his sleep less than a year later, January 9, 2009 in Nashville.  He was 67.