LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Country singer Merle Haggard, recently diagnosed with lung cancer, had part of a lung removed and is recovering at home, his spokeswoman said Sunday.

The 71-year-old singer-songwriter underwent surgery Monday in a Bakersfield, California, hospital.

"I'm feeling good ... better and better each day," Haggard was quoted as saying in a statement. "If not for the love and wisdom of my wife [Theresa], I might not be around today."

Doctors removed the upper lobe of Haggard's right lung after a biopsy revealed that he had non-small cell lung cancer, the statement said. Tests revealed that all the affected tissue was removed.

According to the American Lung Association, non-small cell lung cancer usually spreads to different parts of the body more slowly than the less-common small cell lung cancer.

Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer of men and women in the United States. The expected five-year survival rate for lung cancer patients is 16 percent, according to the association.

Haggard has been touring and recording since 1965, combining folk, jazz, pop, and blues traditions to compose songs that have been covered by the likes of Elvis Costello, the Grateful Dead, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.