Johnny Cash

Beginning with his mid-1950s recordings for Sun Records, John R. “Johnny” Cash has established an international profile as an ambassador of American roots music. Cash left Sun Records and signed with Columbia in mid-1958. Hit singles such as “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town” (1959) and “Ring of Fire” (1963) followed, but Cash turned his attention increasingly to recording concept albums such as Ride This Train (1960), Blood Sweat and Tears (1962), Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian (1964), and Ballads of the True West (1965). Appearing at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival and connecting with Bob Dylan, Cash continued to broaden his appeal and deepen his creative sources. The late 1960s witnessed Cash suffering from addiction to pills while his first marriage failed. In 1965 he was arrested for carrying a large quantity of pills across the Mexican border at El Paso. But with the help of June Carter (of the Carter Sisters), with whom he recorded several hit duets, and whom he married on March 1, 1968, Cash was able to overcome his addiction. On January 13, 1968, Cash recorded his masterly live album at Folsom Prison, from which came a new #1 hit version of “Folsom Prison Blues.” This album and the follow-up 1969 live recording at San Quentin pushed his career to new heights. From 1969 through 1971, Cash hosted a prime time network television variety show. A live cut from this show, “Sunday Morning Coming Down” (written by Kris Kristofferson), was a #1 country hit. From the late 1960s, and into the 1970s and 1980s, Cash continued to tour with his powerful road troupe—which included at various times Mother Maybelle Carter, the Carter Sisters, (Helen, June, and Anita), and the Statler Brothers. By the early 1980s his daughter Rosanne Cash was having more success as a recording artist than he was. But with his old friends Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson, Cash had a #1 hit with the title cut of the Highwayman album in 1985. Health problems forced Cash to stop touring in the late nineties. His stark video for “Hurt,” a song by Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor, won the admiration of a new generation of music fans, earning six nominations for the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.