Johnny Cash

country, folk, gospel and alt.country

Johnny Cash's music could be described as a cross between Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley and Hank Williams. He was hugely influenced by the Carter Family and later married June Carter, who was responsible for writing "Ring of Fire," one of his biggest hits.

Essential Johnny Cash (Sony, 2002)
At Folsom Prison (Sony, 1968)
At San Quentin (Sony, 2000)

Although he grew up with the name J.R., Johnny enlisted in the military as John R., and then took on the name Johnny when he started recording for Sun Records.

John R. Cash (Johnny Cash) was born in Arkansas in January, 1932. His parents were poor farmers, and John spent much of his childhood working in the cotton fields, thogh he started playing guitar and making up songs before he was a teenager.

He spent some time in the Air Force before getting married and moving to Memphis, Tenn. There, he began playing with the Tennessee Two (Marshall Grant, Luther Perkins) and eventually recorded their first single for Sun Records called "Hey Porter." From there, his career started taking off.

In 1960, the Tennessee Two became the Tennessee Three with the addition of drummer W.S. Holland. Cash, during this time, had become quite addicted to alchohol and amphetamines, but still released numerous hit songs and albums.

In 1968, he married June Carter, converted to Christianity and began to clean up his drug habit. By the end of the 60s, he also had his own TV show The Johnny Cash Show and had collaborated with Bob Dylan.

Before his death at the turn of the 21st century, Johnny Cash became a genre-defying legend in his field. Over the course of his entire career, he recorded dozens of albums for four different record companies. He received numerous Grammys, Country Music Awards and was inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame, Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On September 12, 2003, Johnny Cash died at the age of 71.