Cash, Johnny (1932-2003), was an American singer, guitarist, and composer whose style mixed traditional country music with folk, gospel, blues, and rock ‘n’ roll. Cash sang in a rich, distinctive baritone voice. He composed many songs, including “Hey Porter” (1955), “Folsom Prison Blues” (1956), “I Walk the Line” (1956), and “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town” (1959). He also recorded the hit songs “Ring of Fire” (1963), “A Boy Named Sue” (1969), “A Thing Called Love” (1972), “One Piece at a Time” (1976), and “Hurt” (2002). Most of his songs deal compassionately with the hard lives of poor rural people. Many describe outsiders, such as gamblers, hobos, and convicts. Cash’s run-ins with the law and struggles with substance abuse early in his career helped to establish the singer’s “outlaw” image.
John R. Cash was born on Feb. 26, 1932, in Kingsland, Arkansas, to a poor sharecropper family. He taught himself to play the guitar during the 1950’s and soon began to compose his own songs. He made his first record in 1955. In 1968, Cash married June Carter, a member of a famous family of country performers. It was his second marriage. Cash and Carter recorded several hits together, including “Jackson” (1967) and “If I Were a Carpenter” (1970). Cash discussed his life in two autobiographies, Man in Black (1975) and Cash (1997). He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. He won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999. He died on Sept. 12, 2003. Rosanne Cash, Johnny’s daughter by his first wife, Vivian Liberto, is a popular country and rock music singer.
