When he was born he was known as simply J.R. because his parents couldn’t agree on a name for him. He grew up to become Johnny Cash or The Man in Black, one of American music’s most influential and legendary performers.
Cash was born in Arkansas in 1932 to a family of poor cotton farmers. With his six siblings, he was working alongside the family in the cotton fields by the age of five singing while he worked.
In 1950, enlisted in the Air Force taking the name John as the service didn’t recognize initials then, he’s been in the Air Force for four years during which time he bought his first guitar and married Vivian Liberto with whom he had four daughters. But it was after he left the Air Force that Cash’s music career really began to take off.
He signed up with Sun Records where he, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins became dubbed The Million Dollar Quartet because they were such big money lenders.
Leila Dunbar: Johnny Cash is a troubadour. He is a storyteller and therefore he transcends any genre even though he always considered himself first and foremost, a singer and writer of country music. But Johnny Cash put the country in country music because he was such a patriot and loved this country so much. He was never afraid to talk about the problems of this country because he wants to increase awareness and he wanted those problems to be solved as best as they could. I think that sets him apart from many other performers whose songs always had substance.
However, despite his success, the singer spent most of the 60s lost in the swirl of drug addiction and alcoholism which saw him behaving erratically and eventually led to the end of his marriage.
Four years before the divorce thought, he’d been in love with country singer Jane Carter who was also married and wrote Ring of Fire about the perils of an adulterous relationship and loving someone wrestling with addictions.
It was both her influence and his much documented epiphany and Nickajack Cave that led to Cash cleaning up his act in 1968.
Cash’s habit of wearing black clothes stamped from his desire to remind others that the suffering of depressed people everywhere. A point he made clear in the lyrics of his 1971 song Man in Black, to train himself as something of a rebel and an outsider. He became closely aligned with prisoners and frequently performed inside correctional facilities.
George Bush: Country legend, an American beloved by millions.
In 1980, the age of 48, he was the youngest living performer to be inducted into the country music Hall of Fame. To highlight the diversity of his talents and legacy, in 1992, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame welcomed him into the fold and in 2002, Cash added a Medal of Arts to his swag of awards.
Male: Johnny Cash for his contributions to the music and entertainment industry for his remarkable musical innovations that drew from folk, country and rock and roll styles and for setting an extra ordinary standard in American music.
Like many converts, Cash spent much of the 70s on the new Evangelical spree but later changed tact and preached tolerance for all.
The 80s were probably his lowest point career wise, although he did tour in the record successfully with the Highwaymen.
Johnny Cash: American Forest, I just finished that three days ago. My next album? Oh we recorded a lot of songs. We may have a double album. I’m not sure but it’s some of the songs I wrote, some are real old song, some are new songs that are written by young writers just a different—they come from everywhere for this album.
A whole new generation discovered the genius with the Man in Black in the 90s. There was a triumph and appearance with Glastonbury Festival and a grand name for Best Contemporary Folk Album.
His death at the age of 71 came just a few months after death of his soulmate Jane.
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