Johnny Cash Recording

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Ring of Fire

Johnny Cash Performances

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Johnny Cash was born Feb. 26, 1932, in Kingsland, Arkansas to Ray and Carrie Cash. The Cash family farmed 20 acres of cotton and other seasonal crops, and young John worked alongside his parents and siblings in the fields.

Music was an important part of everyday life in the Cash household. John soaked up a variety of musical influences ranging from his mother's folk songs and hymns to the work songs from the fields and nearby railroad yards.

Cash remained in Arkansas until his graduation from high school in 1950. After graduating, Cash enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. After basic training in Texas, he was shipped to Landsberg, Germany. While in the service Cash organized his first band, the Landsberg Barbarians.

After leaving the Air Force in 1954, Cash returned home and worked a variety of jobs while trying to break into the music business.

In 1954, Cash auditioned as solo artist for Sam Phillips' Sun Records. By the following spring, Cash was in Sun Studios to record with his band, The Tennessee Three. Cash's first release for the label, "Hey Porter" was an impressive single, but failed to chart.

Cash's next song sold much better. "Cry, Cry, Cry" managed to crack Billboard's Top 20, peaking at No. 14. After this success, Johnny Cash's songs. "So Doggone Lonesome" and "Folsom Prison Blues" both broke into the Top 10.

Cash's fourth chart single proved to be his career-making song. "I Walk the Line" shot to Billboard's No. 1 position and remained on the record charts for an incredible 43 weeks, selling over 2 million copies.

Throughout the remainder of the 1950s and into the 1960s, Cash continued to produce remarkable music and consistently had hit songs. "Don't Take Your Guns to Town," "I Got Stripes," "Ring of Fire," "Understand Your Man" and "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" all hit the upper registers of the record charts. Appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show and other top-rated network programs followed.

But all was not well. Johnny Cash's life was spinning out of control. His marriage was collapsing and divorce seemed inevitable. Also, his grueling tour schedule (which was now up to 300 shows a year) had taken its toll. Cash became dependent on drugs to keep up the hectic pace. By the mid-1960s, Cash was deeply addicted and it began to impact his career.

By 1967, though, Cash managed to overcome his addiction with the help of his singing partner June Carter and her family. In 1968, he and Carter were married and his music career got back on track. A pair of live recordings made at Folsom Prison and San Quentin both went gold. Awards followed including the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist awards in 1969.

These successes led to Johnny Cash getting his own television show.. Premiering in 1969, The Johnny Cash Show aired on ABC. The show featured an eclectic mix of guests ranging from Bob Dylan and Neil Young to Louis Armstrong and Merle Haggard. He also used the show as a forum to discuss and raise awareness about social issues of the day, such as the plight of the Native Americans, prison reform, and the conflict in Vietnam.

In 1980, at the age of 48, Johnny Cash became the youngest living inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bestowed its honor on him in 1995, thus making him one of a handful of country artists in both organizations.

In 1985, Cash joined friends Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson to form The Highwaymen. The supergroup released three albums between 1985 and 1995, scoring a No. 1 hit with the single "Highwayman" from their first album. Despite battling serious health problems in the late 1990s, Cash enjoyed late-career success after signing with rap producer Rick Rubin's record label. American Recordings, released in 1994, won a Grammy for best contemporary folk album. The follow-up, 1996's Unchained, earned the Grammy for best country album in 1997. His 2000 release American III: Solitary Man, won Cash a Grammy for best male country vocal performance in 2001.

In 2002, Cash released American IV: The Man Comes Around which included the single "Hurt." Cash earned three CMA awards in 2003, and the acclaimed video for "Hurt" won an MTV award and a Grammy.

After losing his wife June Carter Cash unexpectedly in May 2003, Johnny Cash died Sept. 12, 2003 due to complications from diabetes.

In 2005, a film version of his early romance with Carter, titled Walk the Line, was Oscar-nominated for Best Picture.

Today, Johnny Cash remains one of the most popular and influential American musicians.