Johnny Cash (1932–2003) was an America singer-songwriter and is considered one of the most influential and best selling musical artist’s of the 20th century. Mostly known for his country music, he was genre-spanning and his music had sounds influenced from rock and roll, rockabilly, blues, folk, and gospel. His distinct voice and somber demeanor made him very recognizable along with his all black wardrobe. The themes of his song were generally focused on sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption.
Born in 1932 in Arkansas, he was one of seven children. He was born as J.R. Cash, but when he enlisted in the army he couldn’t use initials as his first name so he changed his name to the signature John R. Cash that we know today. He grew up on a cotton arm, helping his family pick in the fields. Much of his songs are inspired by his families economic and personal struggles during the Great Depression.
Cash was signed to Sun records in 1955 where he was met with success upon his first recordings. His next song “Folsom Prison Blues” made it to the country top with “Walk the Line” following, becoming No. 1 on the country charts and even making it into the Top 20 of the pop charts. He’s also credited with being the first country artist to have recorded an LP in 1957. In this time, he developed his signature all black uniform that gave him the nick name “The Undertaker” or “Man in Black”. During this period of success, Cash started to drink heavily and developed an addiction to pills. His life was starting to spin out of control, but he was still seeing success creatively. Despite the carefully crafted outlaw image and being jailed seven times for misdemeanors, Cash never actually served a prison sentence.
In 1980, Cash became the Country Music Hall of Fame’s youngest living inductee at 48. In 1997, Cash was diagnosed with Shy-Drager syndrome and died in 2003 at the age of 71, four months after his wife June died.
