Johnny Cash

American country singer (1932–2003)

This article is about the singer. For other uses, see Johnny Cash (disambiguation). "John R. Cash" redirects here. For the album, see John R. Cash (album).

Johnny Cash

Cash in 1977

Born|

J. R. Cash

(1932-02-26)February 26, 1932

Kingsland, Arkansas, U.S.

Died| September 12, 2003(2003-09-12) (aged 71)

Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.

Resting place| Hendersonville Memory Gardens
Other names|

* "Man in Black"
* John R. Cash

Occupations|

* Singer
* songwriter
* musician
* actor

Years active| 1954–2003
Spouses|

Vivian Liberto

(m. 1954; div. 1966)​

June Carter

(m. 1968; died 2003)​

Children| 5, including Rosanne, Cindy and John
Relatives| Tommy Cash (brother)
Thomas Gabriel (grandson)
John Leventhal (son in law)
Military career
Allegiance| United States
Branch| United States Air Force
Years of service| 1950–1954
Rank| Staff sergeant
Musical career
Genres|

* Country[1]
* rockabilly[1]
* rock and roll[2]
* folk[2]
* gospel[2]
* blues[2]

Instruments|

* Vocals
* guitar
* harmonica

Works|

* Albums
* singles
* songs

Labels|

* Sun
* Columbia
* Mercury
* American Recordings
* House of Cash
* Legacy

Formerly of| The Highwaymen

Musical artist

Website| johnnycash.com

John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career.[3][4] He was known for his deep, calm, bass-baritone voice,[a][5] the distinctive sound of his backing band, the Tennessee Three, that was characterized by its train-like chugging guitar rhythms, a rebelliousness[6][7] coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor,[3] and his free prison concerts.[8] Cash wore a trademark all-black stage wardrobe, which earned him the nickname "Man in Black".[b]

Born to poor cotton farmers in Kingsland, Arkansas, Cash grew up on gospel music and played on a local radio station in high school. He served four years in the Air Force, much of it in West Germany. After his return to the United States, he rose to fame during the mid-1950s in the burgeoning rockabilly scene in Memphis, Tennessee. He traditionally began his concerts by introducing himself with "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash".[c] He began to follow that by "Folsom Prison Blues", one of his signature songs. His other signature songs include "I Walk the Line", "Ring of Fire", "Get Rhythm", and "Man in Black". He also recorded humorous numbers like "One Piece at a Time" and "A Boy Named Sue", a duet with his future wife June called "Jackson" (followed by many further duets after they married), and railroad songs such as "Hey, Porter", "Orange Blossom Special", and "Rock Island Line".[11] During his final years, Cash covered songs by contemporary rock artists; among his most notable covers were "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails, "Rusty Cage" by Soundgarden, and "Personal Jesus" by Depeche Mode.

Cash is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 90 million records worldwide.[12][13] His genre-spanning music embraced country, rock and roll, rockabilly, blues, folk, and gospel sounds. This crossover appeal earned him the rare honor of being inducted into the Country Music, Rock and Roll, and Gospel Music Halls of Fame. His life and career were dramatized in the 2005 biopic Walk the Line.

## Early life

[edit]

Cash's boyhood home in Dyess, Arkansas, where he lived from the age of three in 1935 until he finished high school in 1950. The property, pictured here in 2021, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The home was renovated in 2011 to look as it did when Cash lived there as a child.

Cash was born J. R. Cash in Kingsland, Arkansas, on February 26, 1932,[14][15] to Carrie Cloveree (née Rivers) and Ray Cash. He had three older siblings, Roy, Margaret Louise, and Jack, and three younger siblings, Reba, Joanne, and Tommy (who also became a successful country artist).[16][17] He was primarily of English and Scottish descent.[18][19][20] His paternal grandmother claimed Cherokee ancestry, but a DNA test of Cash's daughter Rosanne in 2021 on Finding Your Roots, hosted by historian Henry Louis Gates Jr, found she has no known Native American markers.[21] The researchers found Rosanne Cash has 3.3% Sub-Saharan African DNA, and they found the Sub-Saharan African DNA comes from both maternal and paternal sides of Cash's family.[21] Researchers traced the Sub-Saharan African DNA to Rosanne's enslaved maternal African ancestors: her "third great-grand-mother" Sarah A. Shields and Shields' mother, who could have been of "full African descent".[21] Gates also informed Cash that the researchers traced Sub-Saharan African DNA to "an unknown African ancestor on your father's [Johnny's] side".[21]

After meeting with the then-laird of Falkland in Fife, Major Michael Crichton-Stuart, Cash became interested in his Scots ancestry. He traced his Scottish surname to 11th-century Fife.[22][23][24] Cash Loch and other locations in Fife bear the surname of his father.[22] He is a distant cousin of British Conservative politician Sir William Cash.[25] He also had English ancestry. Because his mother wanted to name him John and his father preferred to name him Ray when he was born, they compromised on the initials "J. R."[26] But when Cash enlisted in the Air Force after high school, he was not permitted to use initials as a first name. He adopted the name "John R. Cash". In 1955, when signing with Sun Records, he started using the name "Johnny Cash".[7]

In March 1935, when Cash was three years old, the family settled in Dyess, Arkansas, a New Deal colony established during the Great Depression under the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was intended to give poor families the opportunity to work land that they might later own.[27] From the age of five, Cash worked in cotton fields with his family, singing with them as they worked. Dyess and the Cash farm suffered a flood during his childhood. Later he wrote the song "Five Feet High and Rising".[28] His family's economic and personal struggles during the Great Depression gave him a lifelong sympathy for the poor and working class, and inspired many of his songs.

In 1944,[29] Cash's older brother Jack, with whom he was close, was cut almost in two by an unguarded table saw at work. He died of his wounds a week later.[30] According to Cash's autobiography, he, his mother, and Jack all had a sense of foreboding about that day; his mother urged Jack to skip work and go fishing with Cash, but Jack insisted on working as the family needed the money. Cash often spoke of the guilt he felt over the incident. He would say that he looked forward to "meeting [his] brother in Heaven".[7]

Cash's early memories were dominated by gospel music and radio. Taught guitar by his mother and a childhood friend, Cash began playing and writing songs at the age of 12. When young, Cash had a high-tenor voice, before becoming a bass-baritone after his voice changed.[31] In high school, he sang on a local Arkansas radio station. Decades later, he released an album of traditional gospel songs called My Mother's Hymn Book. He was also strongly influenced by traditional Irish music, which he heard performed weekly by Dennis Day on the Jack Benny radio program.[32]

Cash enlisted in the Air Force on July 7, 1950, shortly after the start of the Korean War.[33] After basic training at Lackland Air Force Base and technical training at Brooks Air Force Base, both in San Antonio, Texas, Cash was assigned to the 12th Radio Squadron Mobile of the U.S. Air Force Security Service at Landsberg, West Germany. While in San Antonio, he met Vivian Liberto, an attractive girl of Sicilian, Irish and German ancestry. They dated briefly before his departure. During the years he served overseas, they exchanged thousands of letters. He worked in West Germany as a Morse code operator, intercepting Soviet Army transmissions. While working this job, Cash was said to be the first American to be given the news of Joseph Stalin's death (supplied via Morse code). His daughter, Rosanne, said that Cash had recounted the story many times over the years.[34][35][36] While at Landsberg, he created his first band, "The Landsberg Barbarians".[37] On July 3, 1954, he was honorably discharged as a staff sergeant, and he returned to Texas.[38] During his military service, he acquired a distinctive scar on the right side of his jaw as a result of surgery to remove a cyst.[39][40] Soon after his return, Cash married Vivian Liberto in San Antonio. She had grown up Catholic and was married in the church by her paternal uncle, Father Franco Liberto.[citation needed]

## Career

[edit]

### Early career

[edit]

Publicity photo for Sun Records, 1955

In 1954, Cash and his first wife Vivian moved to Memphis, Tennessee. He sold appliances while studying to be a radio announcer. At night, he played with guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant. Perkins and Grant were known as the Tennessee Two. Cash worked up the courage to visit the Sun Records studio, hoping to get a recording contract.[41] He auditioned for Sam Phillips by singing mostly gospel songs, only to learn from the producer that he no longer recorded gospel music. Phillips was rumored to have told Cash to "go home and sin, then come back with a song I can sell". In a 2002 interview, Cash denied that Phillips made any such comment.[42] Cash eventually won over the producer with new songs delivered in his early rockabilly style. In 1955, Cash made his first recordings at Sun, "Hey Porter" and "Cry! Cry! Cry!", which were released in late June and met with success on the country hit parade.

On December 4, 1956, Elvis Presley dropped in on Phillips while Carl Perkins was in the studio cutting new tracks, with Jerry Lee Lewis backing him on piano. Cash was also in the studio, and the four started an impromptu jam session. Phillips left the tapes running and the recordings, almost half of which were gospel songs, survived. They have since been released under the title Million Dollar Quartet. In Cash: the Autobiography, Cash wrote that he was the farthest from the microphone and sang in a higher pitch to blend in with Elvis.

Cash's next record, "Folsom Prison Blues", made the country top five. His "I Walk the Line" became number one on the country charts and entered the pop charts top 20. "Home of the Blues" followed, recorded in July 1957. That same year, Cash became the first Sun artist to release a long-playing album. Although he was Sun's most consistently selling and prolific artist at that time, Cash felt constrained by his contract with the small label. Phillips did not want Cash to record gospel and was paying him a 3% royalty rather than the standard rate of 5%. Presley had already left Sun, and Cash felt that Phillips was focusing most of his attention and promotion on Lewis.

In 1958, Cash left Phillips to sign a lucrative offer with Columbia Records. His single "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" became one of his biggest hits. He recorded a collection of gospel songs for his second album for Columbia. However, Cash left behind such a backlog of recordings with Sun that Phillips continued to release new singles and albums featuring previously unreleased material until as late as 1964. Cash was in the unusual position of having new releases out on two labels concurrently. Sun's 1960 release, a cover of "Oh Lonesome Me", made it to number 13 on the C&W charts.[d]

Cash on the cover of Cash Box magazine, September 7, 1957

Early in his career, Cash was given the teasing nickname "the Undertaker" by fellow artists because of his habit of wearing black clothes. He said he chose them because they were easier to keep looking clean on long tours.[43]

In the early 1960s, Cash toured with the Carter Family, which by this time regularly included Mother Maybelle's daughters, Anita, June, and Helen. June later recalled admiring him from afar during these tours. In the 1960s, he appeared on Pete Seeger's short-lived television series Rainbow Quest.[44] He also acted in, and wrote and sang the opening theme for, a 1961 film entitled Five Minutes to Live. It was later re-released as Door-to-door Maniac.

Cash's career was handled by Saul Holiff, a London, Ontario, promoter. Their relationship was the subject of Saul's son's biopic My Father and the Man in Black.[45]

### Outlaw image

[edit]

As his career was taking off in the late 1950s, Cash started drinking heavily and became addicted to amphetamines and barbiturates. For a brief time, he shared an apartment in Nashville with Waylon Jennings, who was deeply addicted to amphetamines. Cash would use the stimulants to stay awake during tours. Friends joked about his "nervousness" and erratic behavior, many ignoring the warning signs of his worsening drug addiction.

Although he was in many ways spiraling out of control, Cash could still deliver hits due to his frenetic creativity. His rendition of "Ring of Fire" was a crossover hit, reaching number one on the country charts and entering the top 20 on the pop charts. It was originally performed by June Carter's sister, but the signature mariachi-style horn arrangement was provided by Cash.[46] He said that it had come to him in a dream.

His first wife Vivian (Liberto) Cash claimed a different version of the origins of "Ring of Fire". In her book, I Walked the Line: My Life with Johnny (2007), Liberto says that Cash gave Carter half the songwriting credit for monetary reasons.[47]

In June 1965, Cash's camper caught fire during a fishing trip with his nephew Damon Fielder in Los Padres National Forest in California. It set off a forest fire that burned several hundred acres and nearly caused his death.[48][49] Cash claimed that the fire was caused by sparks from a defective exhaust system on his camper, but Fielder thought that Cash started a fire to stay warm and, under the influence of drugs, failed to notice the fire getting out of control.[50] When the judge asked Cash why he did it, Cash said, "I didn't do it, my truck did, and it's dead, so you can't question it."[51]

The fire destroyed 508 acres (206 ha), burned the foliage off three mountains and drove off 49 of the refuge's 53 endangered California condors.[52] Cash was unrepentant and said, "I don't care about your damn yellow buzzards."[53] The federal government sued him and was awarded $125,172. Cash eventually settled the case and paid $82,001.[54]

The Tennessee Three with Cash in 1963

Although Cash cultivated a romantic outlaw image, he never served a prison sentence. Despite landing in jail seven times for misdemeanors, he was held only one night each time. On May 11, 1965, he was arrested in Starkville, Mississippi, for trespassing late at night onto private property to pick flowers. (He used this incident as the basis for the song "Starkville City Jail". He discussed this on his live At San Quentin album.)[55]

While on tour later that year, he was arrested October 4 in El Paso, Texas, by a narcotics squad. The officers suspected he was smuggling heroin from Mexico, but found instead 688 Dexedrine capsules (amphetamines) and 475 Equanil (sedatives or tranquilizers) tablets hidden inside his guitar case. Because the pills were prescription drugs rather than illegal narcotics, Cash received a suspended sentence. He posted a $1,500 bond and was released until his arraignment.[56]

In this period of the mid-1960s, Cash released a number of concept albums. His Bitter Tears (1964) was devoted to spoken word and songs addressing the plight of Native Americans and mistreatment by the government. While initially reaching charts, this album met with resistance from some fans and radio stations, which rejected its controversial take on social issues.

In 2011, a book was published about it, leading to a re-recording of the songs by contemporary artists and the making of a documentary film about Cash's efforts with the album. This film was aired on PBS in February and November 2016. His Sings the Ballads of the True West (1965) was an experimental double record, mixing authentic frontier songs with Cash's spoken narration.

Reaching a low with his severe drug addiction and destructive behavior, Cash and his first wife divorced after having separated in 1962. Some venues cancelled his performances, but he continued to find success. In 1967, Cash's duet with June Carter, "Jackson", won a Grammy Award.[57]

Cash was last arrested in 1967 in Walker County, Georgia, after police found he was carrying a bag of prescription pills when in a car accident. Cash attempted to bribe a local deputy, who turned the money down. He was jailed for the night in LaFayette, Georgia. Sheriff Ralph Jones released him after giving him a long talk, warning him about the danger of his behavior and wasted potential. Cash credited that experience with helping him turn around and save his life. He later returned to LaFayette to play a benefit concert; it attracted 12,000 people (the city population was less than 9,000 at the time) and raised $75,000 for the high school.[58]

Reflecting on his past in a 1997 interview, Cash noted: "I was taking the pills for awhile, and then the pills started taking me."[59] June, Maybelle, and Ezra Carter moved into Cash's mansion for a month to help him get off drugs. Cash proposed onstage to June on February 22, 1968, at a concert at the London Gardens in London, Ontario, Canada. The couple married a week later (on March 1) in Franklin, Kentucky. She had agreed to marry Cash after he had "cleaned up."[60]

Cash's journey included rediscovery of his Christian faith. He took an "altar call" in Evangel Temple, a small church in the Nashville area, pastored by Reverend Jimmie Rodgers Snow, son of country music legend Hank Snow. According to Marshall Grant, though, Cash did not completely stop using amphetamines in 1968; and did not fully end drug use for another two years. He was drug-free for a period of seven years. In his memoir about time with Cash, Grant said that the birth of Cash's son, John Carter Cash, inspired the singer to end his dependence.[61]

Cash began using amphetamines again in 1977. By 1983, he was deeply addicted again. He entered rehab at the Betty Ford Clinic in Rancho Mirage for treatment. He stayed off drugs for several years, but relapsed.

In 1989, he entered Nashville's Cumberland Heights Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center. In 1992, he started care at the Loma Linda Behavioral Medicine Center in Loma Linda, California, for his final rehabilitation treatment. (Several months later, his son followed him into this facility for treatment.)[62][63]

### Folsom and other prison concerts

[edit]

In the late 1950s Cash began performing concerts at prisons. He played his first notable prison concert on January 1, 1958, at San Quentin State Prison in California.[64] These performances were recorded live, and released on highly successful albums: Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (1968) and Johnny Cash at San Quentin (1969). Both live albums reached number one on Billboard country album music and the latter crossed over to reach the top of the Billboard pop album chart. In 1969, Cash became an international hit when he eclipsed even The Beatles by selling 6.5 million albums.[65] In comparison, the prison concerts were much more successful than his later live albums such as Strawberry Cake recorded in London and Live at Madison Square Garden, which peaked at numbers 33 and 39 on the album charts, respectively.

The Folsom Prison record was introduced by a rendition of his "Folsom Prison Blues", while the San Quentin record included the crossover hit single "A Boy Named Sue", a Shel Silverstein novelty song that reached number one on the country charts and number two on the U.S. top-10 pop charts.

In 1972 Cash performed at the Österåker Prison in Sweden. The live album På Österåker (At Österåker) was released in 1973. "San Quentin" was recorded with Cash replacing "San Quentin" with "Österåker". In 1976, a concert at Tennessee State Prison was videotaped for TV broadcast. It was posthumously released after Cash's death as a CD entitled A Concert Behind Prison Walls.

Cash placed great value upon patriotism and national service. Given his own service, Cash also supported his nephew, Captain Roy "Outlaw" Cash, Jr., USN. On St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1975, Johnny Cash diverted between scheduled performances to play a special concert along with The Tennessee Three for a military audience at the Naval War College in Rhode Island. June Carter Cash and Carl Lee Perkins joined Cash and the Tennessee Three for the show. Before taking the stage, Cash warmed up with June and Perkins under the historic rotunda in Mahan Hall at the Naval War College. The recording of this "lost concert" of Johnny Cash show was donated by Captain Roy Cash, Jr., who later collaborated with Naval War College historian, David Kohnen, to write the account of the performance, which had previously remained undocumented in the official chronology of performances by Johnny Cash.[66]

### Activism for Native Americans

[edit]

Cash used his stardom and economic status to bring awareness to the issues surrounding the Native American people.[67] Cash sang songs about indigenous humanity in an effort to confront the U.S. government. Many non-Native Americans did not address those topics in their music.[68] In 1965, Cash and June Carter appeared on Pete Seeger's TV show, Rainbow Quest, on which Cash explained his start as an activist for Native Americans:

> In '57, I wrote a song called "Old Apache Squaw" and then forgot the so-called Indian protest for a while, but nobody else seemed to speak up with any volume of voice.[69]

Columbia Music, the label for which Cash was recording then, was opposed to putting the song on his next album, considering it "too radical for the public".[70] Cash singing songs of Indian tragedy and settler violence went radically against the mainstream of country music in the 1950s, which was dominated by the image of the righteous cowboy who makes the native's soil his own.[71]

In 1964, coming off the chart success of his previous album I Walk the Line, he recorded the aforementioned album Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian.

The album featured stories of a multitude of Indigenous peoples, emphasizing their violent oppression by white settlers: the Pima people ("The Ballad of Ira Hayes"), Navajo ("Navajo"), Apache ("Apache Tears"), Lakota ("Big Foot"), Seneca ("As Long as the Grass Shall Grow"), and Cherokee ("The Talking Leaves"). Cash wrote three of the songs himself and one with the help of Johnny Horton.

The majority of these protest songs were written by folk artist Peter La Farge (son of Oliver La Farge, an activist and Pulitzer prizewinner). Cash met the younger La Farge in New York in the 1960s and admired him for his activism.[72] The album's single, "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" was generally not played by commercial radio. (Ira Hayes was a Native American who was one of the six soldiers featured in a photo raising the U.S. flag at Iwo Jima during World War II.)

The record label denied it promotion due to what it considered a provocative and "unappealing" nature. Cash faced resistance and was urged by an editor of a country music magazine to leave the Country Music Association, who said: "You and your crowd are just too intelligent to associate with plain country folks, country artists, and country DJs."[73]

In reaction, on August 22, 1964, Cash posted a letter as an advertisement in Billboard, calling the record industry cowardly: "D.J.s – station managers – owners [...] where are your guts? I had to fight back when I realized that so many stations are afraid of Ira Hayes. Just one question: WHY??? Ira Hayes is strong medicine [...] So is Rochester, Harlem, Birmingham and Vietnam."[74][75] Cash kept promoting the song and persuaded disc jockeys he knew to play it. The song eventually reached number three on the country charts, and the album rose to number two on the album charts.[73]

Cash in 1969

Later, on The Johnny Cash Show, he continued telling stories of Native-American plight, both in song and through short films, such as the history of the Trail of Tears.[76]

In 1966, in recognition of his activism, Cash was adopted by the Seneca Nation's Turtle Clan.[77][78] He performed benefits in 1968 at the Rosebud Reservation, close to the historical landmark of the massacre at Wounded Knee, to raise money to help build a school. He also played at the D-Q University in the 1980s.[79]

In 1970, Cash recorded a reading of John G. Burnett's 1890, 80th-birthday essay[80] on Cherokee removal for the Historical Landmarks Association (Nashville).[81]

### The Johnny Cash Show

[edit]

Main article: The Johnny Cash Show

From June 1969 to March 1971, Cash starred in his own television show, The Johnny Cash Show, on the ABC network.[82] Produced by Screen Gems, the show was performed at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. The Statler Brothers opened for him in every episode; the Carter Family and rockabilly legend Carl Perkins were also part of the regular show entourage. Cash also enjoyed booking mainstream performers as guests; including Linda Ronstadt in her first TV appearance, Neil Young, Louis Armstrong, Neil Diamond, Kenny Rogers and the First Edition (who appeared four times), James Taylor, Ray Charles, Roger Miller, Roy Orbison, Derek and the Dominos, Joni Mitchell, and Bob Dylan.[82]

From September 15–18, 1969, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Cash performed a series of four concerts at the New Mexico State Fair to promote the first season of The Johnny Cash Show.[83][84] These live shows were produced with help from ABC and local concert producer Bennie Sanchez; during these sets, Johnny Cash and Al Hurricane performed together.[85] Also during The Johnny Cash Show era, he contributed the title song and other songs to the film Little Fauss and Big Halsy, which starred Robert Redford, Michael J. Pollard, and Lauren Hutton.[86] The title song, "The Ballad of Little Fauss and Big Halsy", written by Carl Perkins, was nominated for a Golden Globe award in 1971.[87]

Cash had first met with Dylan in the mid-1960s and became neighbors in the late 1960s in Woodstock, New York. Cash was enthusiastic about reintroducing the reclusive Dylan to his audience. Cash sang a duet with Dylan, "Girl from the North Country", on Dylan's country album Nashville Skyline and also wrote the album's Grammy-winning liner notes.

Another artist who received a major career boost from The Johnny Cash Show was Kris Kristofferson, who was beginning to make a name for himself as a singer-songwriter. During a live performance of Kristofferson's "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", Cash refused to change the lyrics to suit network executives, singing the song with its references to marijuana intact:

> On a Sunday morning sidewalk
>  I'm wishin', Lord, that I was stoned.[88]

The closing program of The Johnny Cash Show was a gospel music special. Guests included the Blackwood Brothers, Mahalia Jackson, Stuart Hamblen, and Billy Graham.[89]

### The "Man in Black"

[edit]

Cash promoting prison reform during his meeting with President Richard Nixon in the Oval Office at the White House in July 1972 Cash performing in Bremen, West Germany, in September 1972

By the early 1970s, Cash had established his public image as the "Man in Black". He regularly performed in entirely black suits with a long, black, knee-length coat. This outfit stood in contrast to the rhinestone suits and cowboy boots worn by most of the major country acts of his day.

Cash said he wore all black on behalf of the poor and hungry, the "prisoner who has long paid for his crime", and those who have been betrayed by age or drugs.[90] He added, "With the Vietnam War as painful in my mind as it was in most other Americans, I wore it 'in mourning' for the lives that could have been' ... Apart from the Vietnam War being over, I don't see much reason to change my position ... The old are still neglected, the poor are still poor, the young are still dying before their time, and we're not making many moves to make things right. There's still plenty of darkness to carry off."[90]

Cash in the "one piece at a time" Cadillac

Initially, he and his band had worn black shirts because that was the only matching color they had among their various outfits. He wore other colors on stage early in his career, but he claimed to like wearing black both on and off stage. He stated that political reasons aside, he simply liked black as his on-stage color.[9] The outdated US Navy's winter blue uniform used to be referred to by sailors as "Johnny Cashes", as the uniform's shirt, tie, and trousers are solid black.[91]

In the mid-1970s, Cash's popularity and number of hit songs began to decline. He made commercials for Amoco and STP, an unpopular enterprise at the time of the 1970s energy crisis. In 1976, he made commercials for Lionel Trains, for which he also wrote the music.[92] However, his first autobiography, Man in Black, was published in 1975 and sold 1.3 million copies. A second, Cash: The Autobiography, appeared in 1997.

Cash's friendship with Billy Graham[93] led to his production of a film about the life of Jesus, Gospel Road: A Story of Jesus, which Cash co-wrote and narrated. It was released in 1973. Cash viewed the film as a statement of his personal faith rather than a means of proselytizing.[94]

Cash and June Carter Cash appeared several times on the Billy Graham Crusade TV specials, and Cash continued to include gospel and religious songs on many of his albums, though Columbia declined to release A Believer Sings the Truth, a gospel double-LP Cash recorded in 1979 and which ended up being released on an independent label even with Cash still under contract to Columbia. On November 22, 1974, CBS ran his one-hour TV special entitled Riding The Rails, a musical history of trains.

He continued to appear on television, hosting Christmas specials on CBS in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Later television appearances included a starring role in an episode of Columbo, entitled "Swan Song". June and he appeared in an episode of Little House on the Prairie, entitled "The Collection". He gave a performance as abolitionist John Brown in the 1985 American Civil War television miniseries North and South. In the 1990s, Johnny and June appeared in Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman in recurring roles.

He was friendly with every US president, starting with Richard Nixon. He was closest to Jimmy Carter, with whom he became close friends and who was a distant cousin of his wife, June.[95]

When invited to perform at the White House for the first time in 1970,[96] Richard Nixon's office requested that he play "Okie from Muskogee" (a satirical Merle Haggard song about people who despised hippies, young drug users and Vietnam war protesters), "Welfare Cadillac" (a Guy Drake song which chastises the integrity of welfare recipients), and "A Boy Named Sue". Cash declined to play the first two and instead selected other songs, including "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" and his own compositions, "What Is Truth" and "Man in Black". Cash wrote that the reasons for denying Nixon's song choices were not knowing them and having fairly short notice to rehearse them, rather than any political reason.[97] However, Cash added, even if Nixon's office had given Cash enough time to learn and rehearse the songs, their choice of pieces that conveyed "antihippie and antiblack" sentiments might have backfired.[98] In his remarks when introducing Cash, Nixon joked that one thing he had learned about him was one did not tell him what to sing.[99]

Johnny Cash was the grand marshal of the United States Bicentennial parade.[100] He wore a shirt from Nudie Cohn which sold for $25,000 in auction in 2010.[101] After the parade he gave a concert at the Washington Monument.[102]

### Highwaymen and departure from Columbia Records

[edit]

The Highwaymen members Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson Cash's tour bus

In 1980, Cash became the Country Music Hall of Fame's youngest living inductee at age 48, but during the 1980s, his records failed to make a major impact on the country charts, although he continued to tour successfully. In the mid-1980s, he recorded and toured with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson as the Highwaymen, making three hit albums, which were released beginning with the originally titled Highwayman in 1985, followed by Highwaymen 2 in 1990, and concluding with Highwaymen – The Road Goes On Forever in 1995.

During that period, Cash appeared in a number of television films. In 1981, he starred in The Pride of Jesse Hallam, winning fine reviews for a film that called attention to adult illiteracy. In 1983, he appeared as a heroic sheriff in Murder in Coweta County, based on a real-life Georgia murder case, which co-starred Andy Griffith as his nemesis.

Cash relapsed into addiction after being administered painkillers for a serious abdominal injury in 1983 caused by an incident in which he was kicked and wounded by an ostrich on his farm.[103]

At a hospital visit in 1988, this time to watch over Waylon Jennings (who was recovering from a heart attack), Jennings suggested that Cash have himself checked into the hospital for his own heart condition. Doctors recommended preventive heart surgery, and Cash underwent double bypass surgery in the same hospital. Both recovered, although Cash refused to use any prescription painkillers, fearing a relapse into dependency. Cash later claimed that during his operation, he had what is called a "near-death experience".

In 1984, Cash released a self-parody recording titled "The Chicken in Black" about Cash's brain being transplanted into a chicken and Cash receiving a bank robber's brain in return. Biographer Robert Hilburn, in his 2013 book Johnny Cash: The Life, disputes the claim made that Cash chose to record an intentionally poor song in protest of Columbia's treatment of him. On the contrary, Hilburn writes, it was Columbia that presented Cash with the song, which Cash – who had previously scored major chart hits with comedic material such as "A Boy Named Sue" and "One Piece at a Time" – accepted enthusiastically, performing the song live on stage and filming a comedic music video in which he dresses up in a superhero-like bank-robber costume. According to Hilburn, Cash's enthusiasm for the song waned after Waylon Jennings told Cash he looked "like a buffoon" in the music video (which was showcased during Cash's 1984 Christmas TV special), and Cash subsequently demanded that Columbia withdraw the music video from broadcast and recall the single from stores—interrupting its bona fide chart success—and termed the venture "a fiasco".[104]

Between 1981 and 1984, he recorded several sessions with famed countrypolitan producer Billy Sherrill (who also produced "The Chicken in Black"), which were shelved; they would be released by Columbia's sister label, Legacy Recordings, in 2014 as Out Among the Stars.[105] Around this time, Cash also recorded an album of gospel recordings that ended up being released by another label around the time of his departure from Columbia (this due to Columbia closing down its Priority Records division that was to have released the recordings).

After more unsuccessful recordings were released between 1984 and 1985, Cash left Columbia.

In 1986, Cash returned to Sun Studios in Memphis to team up with Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins to create the album Class of '55; according to Hilburn, Columbia still had Cash under contract at the time, so special arrangements had to be made to allow him to participate.[106] Also in 1986, Cash published his only novel, Man in White, a book about Saul and his conversion to become the Apostle Paul. He recorded Johnny Cash Reads The Complete New Testament in 1990.

### American Recordings

[edit]

Main article: American Recordings (album)

Cash singing with U.S. Navy lieutenant during a military event, c. January 1987

After Columbia Records dropped Cash from his recording contract, he had a short and unsuccessful stint with Mercury Records from 1987 to 1991. During this time, he recorded an album of new versions of some of his best-known Sun and Columbia hits, as well as Water from the Wells of Home, a duets album that paired him with, among others, his children Rosanne Cash and John Carter Cash, as well as Paul McCartney. A one-off Christmas album recorded for Delta Records followed his Mercury contract.

Though Cash would never have another chart hit from 1991 until his death, his career was rejuvenated in the 1990s, leading to popularity with an audience which was not traditionally considered interested in country music. In 1988, British post-punk musicians Marc Riley (formerly of the Fall) and Jon Langford (the Mekons) put together 'Til Things Are Brighter, a tribute album featuring mostly British-based indie-rock acts' interpretations of Cash's songs. Cash was enthusiastic about the project, telling Langford that it was a "morale booster"; Rosanne Cash later said "he felt a real connection with those musicians and very validated ... It was very good for him: he was in his element. He absolutely understood what they were tapping into, and loved it". The album attracted press attention on both sides of the Atlantic.[107] In 1991, he sang a version of "Man in Black" for the Christian punk band One Bad Pig's album I Scream Sunday. In 1993, he sang "The Wanderer", the closing track of U2's album Zooropa.

According to Rolling Stone writer Adam Gold, "The Wanderer", written for Cash by Bono, "defies both the U2 and Cash canons, combining rhythmic and textural elements of Nineties synth-pop with a Countrypolitan lament fit for the closing credits of a Seventies western."[108]

No longer sought-after by major labels, he was offered a contract with producer Rick Rubin's American Recordings label, which had recently been rebranded from Def American, under which name it was better known for rap and hard rock. Under Rubin's supervision, he recorded American Recordings (1994) in his living room, accompanied only by his Martin Dreadnought guitar – one of many Cash played throughout his career.[109] The album featured covers of contemporary artists selected by Rubin. The album had a great deal of critical and commercial success, winning a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Cash wrote that his reception at the 1994 Glastonbury Festival was one of the highlights of his career. This was the beginning of a decade of music industry accolades and commercial success. He teamed up with Brooks & Dunn to contribute "Folsom Prison Blues" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization. On the same album, he performed Bob Dylan's "Forever Young" as track number eight on the CD release.[110]

Cash and his wife appeared on a number of episodes of the television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. He also lent his voice for a cameo role in The Simpsons episode "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)", as the "Space Coyote" that guides Homer Simpson on a spiritual quest. In the 2015 toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, Cash posthumously reprised his role as the "Space Coyote" in the exclusive level for Homer, "The Mysterious Voyage of Homer" (a remake of the episode) via archival audio recordings from the original episode.

Cash was joined by guitarist Kim Thayil of Soundgarden, bassist Krist Novoselic of Nirvana, and drummer Sean Kinney of Alice in Chains for a cover of Willie Nelson's "Time of the Preacher", featured on the tribute album Twisted Willie, released in January 1996.[111]

In 1996, Cash collaborated with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on Unchained (also known as American Recordings II), which won the Best Country Album Grammy in 1998. The album was produced by Rick Rubin with Sylvia Massy engineering and mixing. A majority of Unchained was recorded at Sound City Studios and featured guest appearances by Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, and Marty Stuart. Believing he did not explain enough of himself in his 1975 autobiography Man in Black, he wrote Cash: The Autobiography in 1997.

## Later years

[edit]

Cash with President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. in 2002

In 1997, during a trip to New York City, Cash was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease Shy–Drager syndrome, a form of multiple system atrophy.[112] According to biographer Robert Hilburn, the disease was originally misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease, and Cash even announced to his audience that he had Parkinson's after nearly collapsing on stage in Flint, Michigan, on October 25, 1997. Soon afterwards, his diagnosis was changed to Shy–Drager, and Cash was told he had about 18 months to live.[113] The diagnosis was later again altered to autonomic neuropathy associated with diabetes. The illness forced Cash to curtail his touring. He was hospitalized in 1998 with severe pneumonia, which damaged his lungs.

During the last stage of his career, Cash released the albums American III: Solitary Man (2000) and American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002). American IV included cover songs by several late 20th-century rock artists, notably "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails and "Personal Jesus" by Depeche Mode.[114] Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails commented that he was initially skeptical about Cash's plan to cover "Hurt", but was later impressed and moved by the rendition.[115] The video for "Hurt" received critical and popular acclaim, including a Grammy Award.[116][117]

June Carter Cash died on May 15, 2003, aged 73.[118] June had told Cash to keep working, so he continued to record, completing 60 songs in the last four months of his life. He even performed surprise shows at the Carter Family Fold outside Bristol, Virginia. At the July 5, 2003, concert (his last public performance), before singing "Ring of Fire", Cash read a statement that he had written shortly before taking the stage:

> The spirit of June Carter overshadows me tonight with the love she had for me and the love I have for her. We connect somewhere between here and Heaven. She came down for a short visit, I guess, from Heaven to visit with me tonight to give me courage and inspiration like she always has. She's never been one for me except courage and inspiration. I thank God for June Carter. I love her with all my heart.

Cash continued to record until shortly before his death. "When June died, it tore him up", Rick Rubin recalled. "He said to me, 'You have to keep me working because I will die if I don't have something to do.' He was in a wheelchair by then and we set him up at his home in Virginia... I couldn't listen to those recordings for two years after he died and it was heartbreaking when he died."[119] Cash's final recordings were made on August 21, 2003, and consisted of "Like the 309", which appeared on American V: A Hundred Highways in 2006, and the final song he completed, "Engine 143", recorded for his son John Carter Cash's planned Carter Family tribute album.[120]

## Death

[edit]

Cash's grave at Hendersonville Memory Gardens in Hendersonville, Tennessee

On September 12, 2003, at approximately 2am Central Time, while hospitalized at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, Cash died of complications from diabetes, at age 71. His death came less than four months after his wife's.

Public funeral services were held at the First Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee.[121] He was buried next to her at Hendersonville Memory Gardens near his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

## Personal life

[edit]

Cash and his second wife, June Carter in 1969

On July 18, 1951, while in Air Force basic training, Cash met 17-year-old Italian-American Vivian Liberto at a roller skating rink in San Antonio, Texas.[122] They dated for three weeks until Cash was deployed to West Germany for a three-year tour. During that time, the couple exchanged hundreds of love letters.[123] On August 7, 1954, one month after his discharge, they were married at St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church in San Antonio. They had four daughters: Rosanne, Kathy, Cindy, and Tara. In 1961, Cash moved his family to a hilltop home overlooking Casitas Springs, California. He had previously moved his parents to the area to run a small trailer park called the Johnny Cash Trailer Park. His drinking led to several run-ins with local law enforcement. Liberto later said that she had filed for divorce in 1966 because of Cash's severe abuse of alcohol and other drugs, as well as his constant touring, his repeated acts of adultery with other women, and his close relationship with singer June Carter. Their four daughters were then raised by their mother.

Cash met June of the famed Carter Family while on tour, and the two became infatuated with each other. In 1968, 13 years after they first met backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, Cash proposed to June, during a live performance in London, Ontario.[124] The couple married on March 1, 1968, in Franklin, Kentucky. They had one child together, John Carter Cash, born March 3, 1970. He was the only son for both Johnny and June. In addition to having his four daughters and John Carter, Cash also became stepfather to Carlene and Rosie, June's daughters from her first two marriages, to, respectively, honky-tonk singer Carl Smith, and former police officer, football player, and race-car driver Edwin "Rip" Nix. Cash and Carter continued to work, raise their child, create music, and tour together for 35 years until June's death in May 2003. Throughout their marriage, June attempted to keep Cash off amphetamines, often taking his drugs and flushing them down the toilet. June remained with him even throughout his multiple admissions for rehabilitation treatment and decades of drug addiction. After June's death in May 2003, Cash believed that his only reason for living was his music; he died only four months later.[125]

## Religious beliefs

[edit]

Cash was raised by his parents in the Christian faith. In 1944, he became a Christian at the Central Baptist Church in Dyess, Arkansas, affiliated to the Southern Baptist Convention, and began singing publicly there.[126] He was baptized shortly after in the Tyronza River.[127]

A troubled but devout Christian,[128][129] Cash has been characterized as a "lens through which to view American contradictions and challenges."[e][131][132] On May 9, 1971, he answered the altar call at Evangel Temple in Nashville, an Assemblies of God congregation pastored by Jimmie R. Snow, with outreach to people in the music world.[133]

Cash penned a Christian novel, Man in White, in 1986, and in the introduction writes about a reporter who, interested in Cash's religious beliefs, questioned whether the book is written from a Baptist, Catholic, or Jewish perspective. Cash replied, "I'm a Christian. Don't put me in another box."[134][135][136][137]

In the mid-1970s, Cash and his wife, June, completed a course of study in the Bible through Christian International Bible College, culminating in a pilgrimage to Israel in November 1978.[63]: 66  Around that time, he was ordained as a minister, and officiated at his daughter's wedding.[138] He often performed at Billy Graham Crusades.[139] At a Tallahassee Crusade in 1986, June and Johnny sang his song "One of These Days I'm Gonna Sit Down and Talk to Paul".[140] At a performance in Arkansas in 1989, Johnny Cash spoke to attendees of his commitment to the salvation of drug dealers and alcoholics. He then sang "Family Bible".[141]

He recorded several gospel albums and made a spoken-word recording of the entire New King James Version of the New Testament.[142][143] Cash declared he was "the biggest sinner of them all", and viewed himself overall as a complicated and contradictory man.[144][f] Accordingly,[g] Cash is said to have "contained multitudes", and has been deemed "the philosopher-prince of American country music."[148][149]

Cash is credited with having converted actor and singer John Schneider to Christianity.[150]

Towards the end of his life, he and his wife attended the First Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee.[151]

## Legacy

[edit]

Cash's clothes and guitar on display at Artist Gallery of the Musical Instrument Museum of Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona

Cash nurtured and defended artists such as Bob Dylan[46] on the fringes of what was acceptable in country music even while serving as the country music establishment's most visible symbol. At an all-star concert which aired in 1999 on TNT, a diverse group of artists paid him tribute, including Dylan, Chris Isaak, Wyclef Jean, Norah Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Dom DeLuise, and U2. Cash himself appeared at the end and performed for the first time in more than a year. Two tribute albums were released shortly before his death; Kindred Spirits contains works from established artists, while Dressed in Black contains works from many lesser-known musicians. Cash served as a major influence on Dylan's desire to transition to an electric guitar, which was notably shown during his performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, and use of less traditional protest themed folk music.[152][153] In addition to his use of an electric guitar at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, a letter which Cash wrote to the editor of Broadside which called for the people at the festival to "shut up and let me sing" shortly before the 1964 festival had major influence on Dylan's shift in the direction for his musical career as well.[152][153]

In total, he wrote over 1,000 songs and released dozens of albums. A box set titled Unearthed was issued posthumously. It included four CDs of unreleased material recorded with Rubin, as well as a Best of Cash on American retrospective CD. The set also includes a 104-page book that discusses each track and features one of Cash's final interviews.[154]

In 1999, Cash received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Cash number 31 on their "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" list[155][156] and No. 21 on their "100 Greatest Singers" list in 2010.[157] In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked Cash's 1968 live album At Folsom Prison and 1994 studio album American Recordings at No. 88[158] and No. 366[159] in its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

In recognition of his lifelong support of SOS Children's Villages, his family invited friends and fans to donate to the Johnny Cash Memorial Fund in his memory. He had a personal link with the SOS village in Dießen, at the Ammersee Lake in Bavaria, near where he was stationed as a GI, and with the SOS village in Barrett Town, by Montego Bay, near his holiday home in Jamaica.[160][161]

In January 2006, Cash's lakeside home on Caudill Drive in Hendersonville was sold to Bee Gees vocalist Barry Gibb and wife Linda for $2.3 million. On April 10, 2007, during major renovation works carried out for Gibb, a fire broke out at the house, spreading quickly due to a flammable wood preservative that had been used. The building was completely destroyed.[162]

One of Cash's final collaborations with producer Rick Rubin, American V: A Hundred Highways, was released posthumously on July 4, 2006. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 200 album chart for the week ending July 22, 2006. On February 23, 2010, three days before what would have been Cash's 78th birthday, the Cash Family, Rick Rubin, and Lost Highway Records released his second posthumous record, titled American VI: Ain't No Grave.

The main street in Hendersonville, Tennessee, Highway 31E, is known as "Johnny Cash Parkway".[163] The Johnny Cash Museum, located in one of Cash's properties in Hendersonville until 2006, dubbed the House of Cash, was sold based on Cash's will. Prior to this, having been closed for a number of years, the museum had been featured in Cash's music video for "Hurt". The house subsequently burned down during the renovation by the new owner. A new museum, founded by Shannon and Bill Miller, opened April 26, 2013, in downtown Nashville.[164]

On November 2–4, 2007, the Johnny Cash Flower Pickin' Festival was held in Starkville, Mississippi, where Cash had been arrested more than 40 years earlier and held overnight at the city jail on May 11, 1965. The incident inspired Cash to write the song "Starkville City Jail". The festival, where he was offered a symbolic posthumous pardon, honored Cash's life and music, and was expected to become an annual event.[165]

JC Unit One, Johnny Cash's private tour bus from 1980 until 2003, was put on exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, in 2007. The museum offers public tours of the bus on a seasonal basis (it is stored during the winter and not exhibited during those times).[166]

A limited-edition Forever stamp honoring Cash went on sale June 5, 2013. The stamp features a promotional picture of Cash taken around the 1963 release of Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash.[167]

On October 14, 2014, the City of Folsom unveiled phase 1 of the Johnny Cash Trail to the public with a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Rosanne Cash. Along the trail, eight larger-than-life public art pieces will tell the story of Johnny Cash, his connection to Folsom Prison, and his epic musical career. The Johnny Cash Trail features art selected by a committee that included Cindy Cash, a 2-acre (0.81 ha) Legacy Park, and over 3 miles (4.8 km) of multi-use class-I bike trail. The artists responsible for the sculptures are Sacramento-based Romo Studios, LLC and the Fine Art Studio of Rotblatt Amrany, from Illinois.[168]

In 2015, a new species of black tarantula was identified near Folsom Prison and named Aphonopelma johnnycashi in his honor.

In 2016, the Nashville Sounds Minor League Baseball team added the "Country Legends Race" to its between-innings entertainment. At the middle of the fifth inning, people in oversized foam caricature costumes depicting Cash, as well as George Jones, Reba McEntire, and Dolly Parton, race around the warning track at First Horizon Park from center field to the home plate side of the first base dugout.[169]

On February 8, 2018, the album Forever Words was announced, putting music to poems that Cash had written and which were published in book form in 2016.[170]

Johnny Cash's boyhood home in Dyess was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on May 2, 2018, as "Farm No. 266, Johnny Cash Boyhood Home."[27]

The Arkansas Country Music Awards honored Johnny Cash's legacy with the Lifetime Achievement award on June 3, 2018. The ceremony was held that same date, which was a Monday night at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in Little Rock, Arkansas. The nominations took place in early 2018.[171][172]

In 2019, Sheryl Crow released a duet with Cash on her song "Redemption Day" for her album Threads. Crow, who had originally written and recorded the song in 1996, recorded new vocals and added them to those of Cash, who recorded the song for his American VI: Ain't No Grave album.[173]

In April 2019, it was announced that the state of Arkansas would place a statue of Cash in the National Statuary Hall in an effort to represent the modern history of Arkansas. The Governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson, stated that Cash's contributions to music made him an appropriate figure to tell the story of the state.[174]

In April 2024, unfinished and unreleased demos recorded by Cash were announced to be released in a new compilation album, Songwriter. The album – co-produced by Cash's son, John Carter Cash – contains eleven songs, recorded in 1993 with guest artists including Vince Gill and the Black Keys. Songwriter's release date was announced as June 28, 2024.[175]

### Portrayals

[edit]

Country singer Mark Collie portrayed Cash in John Lloyd Miller's award-winning 1999 short film I Still Miss Someone.

In November 2005, Walk the Line, a biographical film about Cash's life, was released in the United States to considerable commercial success and critical acclaim. The film featured Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny (for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor) and Reese Witherspoon as June (for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress). Phoenix and Witherspoon also won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy and Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, respectively. They both performed their own vocals in the film (with their version of "Jackson" being released as a single), and Phoenix learned to play guitar for the role. Phoenix received a Grammy Award for his contributions to the soundtrack. John Carter Cash, the son of Johnny and June, served as an executive producer.

On March 12, 2006, Ring of Fire, a jukebox musical of the Cash oeuvre, debuted on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theater, but closed due to harsh reviews and disappointing sales on April 30. Million Dollar Quartet, a musical portraying the early Sun recording sessions involving Cash, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins, debuted on Broadway on April 11, 2010. Actor Lance Guest portrayed Cash. The musical was nominated for three awards at the 2010 Tony Awards and won one.

In the 2024 film A Complete Unknown, about the early career of Bob Dylan, Cash is portrayed by actor Boyd Holbrook.

## Awards and honors

[edit]

For detailed lists of music awards, see List of awards received by Johnny Cash.

> If there were a hall of fame for creating larger-than-life personae, Cash would no doubt have been elected to it as well. His 1971 song "Man in Black" codified an image that the singer had assumed naturally for more than fifteen years at that point. Part rural preacher, part outlaw Robin Hood, he was a blue-collar prophet who, dressed in stark contrast to the glinting rhinestones and shimmering psychedelia of the time, spoke truth to power.

—Johnny Cash: Remembering the Incomparable Legend of Country, Rock and Roll, Rolling Stone[176]

Cash received multiple Country Music Association Awards, Grammys, and other awards, in categories ranging from vocal and spoken performances to album notes and videos. In a career that spanned almost five decades, Cash was the personification of country music to many people around the world. Cash was a musician who was not defined by a single genre. He recorded songs that could be considered rock and roll, blues, rockabilly, folk, and gospel, and exerted an influence on each of those genres.

His diversity was evidenced by his presence in five major music halls of fame: the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (1977), the Country Music Hall of Fame (1980), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1992), GMA's Gospel Music Hall of Fame (2010). and the Memphis Music Hall of Fame (2013).[177][178] Marking his death in 2003, Rolling Stone stated other than Elvis Presley Cash was the only artist inducted as a performer into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[176]

His contributions to the genre have been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.[179] Cash received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1996 and stated that his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980 was his greatest professional achievement. In 2001, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.[180] "Hurt" was nominated for six VMAs at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. The only VMA the video won was that for Best Cinematography. With the video, Johnny Cash became the oldest artist ever nominated for an MTV Video Music Award.[181] Justin Timberlake, who won Best Video that year for "Cry Me a River", said in his acceptance speech: "This is a travesty! I demand a recount. My grandfather raised me on Johnny Cash, and I think he deserves this more than any of us in here tonight."[182]

## Discography

[edit]

Main articles: Johnny Cash albums discography, Johnny Cash singles discography, and Johnny Cash Sun Records discography

See also: List of songs recorded by Johnny Cash

* Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar! (1957)
* The Fabulous Johnny Cash (1958)
* Hymns by Johnny Cash (1959)
* Songs of Our Soil (1959)
* Now, There Was a Song! (1960)
* Ride This Train (1960)
* Hymns from the Heart (1962)
* The Sound of Johnny Cash (1962)
* Blood, Sweat and Tears (1963)
* The Christmas Spirit (1963)
* Keep on the Sunny Side (with the Carter Family) (1964)
* I Walk the Line (1964)
* Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian (1964)
* Orange Blossom Special (1965)
* Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West (1965)
* Everybody Loves a Nut (1966)
* Happiness Is You (1966)
* Carryin' On with Johnny Cash & June Carter (with June Carter) (1967)
* From Sea to Shining Sea (1968)
* The Holy Land (1969)
* Hello, I'm Johnny Cash (1970)
* Man in Black (1971)
* A Thing Called Love (1972)
* America: A 200-Year Salute in Story and Song (1972)
* The Johnny Cash Family Christmas (1972)
* Any Old Wind That Blows (1973)
* Johnny Cash and His Woman (with June Carter Cash) (1973)
* Ragged Old Flag (1974)
* The Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me (1974)
* The Johnny Cash Children's Album (1975)
* Johnny Cash Sings Precious Memories (1975)
* John R. Cash (1975)
* Look at Them Beans (1975)
* One Piece at a Time (1976)
* The Last Gunfighter Ballad (1977)
* The Rambler (1977)
* I Would Like to See You Again (1978)
* Gone Girl (1978)
* Silver (1979)
* A Believer Sings the Truth (1979)
* Johnny Cash Sings with the BC Goodpasture Christian School (1979)
* Rockabilly Blues (1980)
* Classic Christmas (1980)
* The Baron (1981)
* The Adventures of Johnny Cash (1982)
* Johnny 99 (1983)
* Highwayman (with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson & Kris Kristofferson) (1985)
* Rainbow (1985)
* Heroes (with Waylon Jennings) (1986)
* Class of '55 (with Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis & Carl Perkins) (1986)
* Believe in Him (1986)
* Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town (1987)
* Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series (1988)
* Water from the Wells of Home (1988)
* Boom Chicka Boom (1990)
* Highwayman 2 (with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson & Kris Kristofferson) (1990)
* The Mystery of Life (1991)
* Country Christmas (1991)
* American Recordings (1994)
* The Road Goes on Forever (with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson & Kris Kristofferson) (1995)
* American II: Unchained (1996)
* American III: Solitary Man (2000)
* American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002)
* My Mother's Hymn Book (2004)
* American V: A Hundred Highways (2006)
* American VI: Ain't No Grave (2010)
* Out Among the Stars (2014)
* Songwriter (2024)

## Filmography

[edit]

### Film

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

1961  | Five Minutes to Live | Johnny Cabot  | Also titled Door-To-Door Maniac
1967  | The Road to Nashville | Himself  | Country music jukebox musical
1970  | Johnny Cash! The Man, His World, His Music | Documentary had theatrical debut after TV broadcast
1971  | A Gunfight | Abe Cross  |
1973  | Gospel Road: A Story of Jesus | Narrator/Himself  | Also co-writer
1983  | Kairei | Uncle John  | Japanese film[183] about Otokichi
1983  | Murder in Coweta County | Sheriff Lamar Potts
1994  | Gene Autry, Melody of the West | Narrator  | Documentary film; voice acting role
2003  | The Hunted | Voice acting role
2008  | Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison | Himself  | Documentary film; archive footage
Johnny Cash's America
2012  | My Father and the Man in Black
2014  | The Winding Stream
Johnny Cash: American Rebel a/k/a I Am Johnny Cash
2015  | We're Still Here: Johnny Cash's Bitter Tears Revisited
2019  | The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash
2020  | My Darling Vivian
2022  | Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon

### Television

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

1958–1959  | Town Hall Party | Himself  | 2 episodes, live concert specials
1959  | Shotgun Slade | Sheriff  | Episode: "The Stalkers"
Wagon Train | Frank Hoag  | Episode: "The C.L. Harding Story
1960  | The Rebel | Pratt  | Episode: "The Death of Gray"
1961  | The Deputy | Bo Braddock  | Episode: "The Deathly Quiet"
1966  | Rainbow Quest | Himself  | Musical special with June Carter Cash, hosted by Pete Seeger
1969  | Johnny Cash! The Man, His World, His Music | Himself  | Television film; BBC bio documentary by Robert Elfstrom[184]
Johnny Cash at San Quentin | Himself  | Concert film special; directed by Michael Darlow
1969–1971  | The Johnny Cash Show | Himself – host and performer | 58 episodes
1970  | NET Playhouse | John Ross  | Episode: "Trail of Tears"
The Partridge Family | Variety Show Host  | Episode: "What? Get Out of Show Business?"
1971  | Johnny Cash i København | Himself  | Live concert special filmed in Denmark
1973–1992  | Sesame Street | Himself  | 4 episodes
1974–1988  | Hee Haw | Himself  | 4 episodes
1974  | Columbo | Tommy Brown  | Episode: "Swan Song"
Johnny Cash Ridin' the Rails—The Great American Train Story | Himself  | Musical special
1976  | Johnny Cash and Friends | Himself  | 4 episodes
Little House on the Prairie | Caleb Hodgekiss  | Episode: "The Collection"
1976–1985  | Johnny Cash specials (various titles)  | Himself  | 15 specials
1977  | A Concert Behind Prison Walls | Himself  | Live special
1978  | Thaddeus Rose and Eddie | Thaddeus Rose  | Television film
Steve Martin: A Wild and Crazy Guy | Himself  | Television special[185]
1980  | The Muppet Show | Himself  | Episode: "#5.21"
Johnny Cash: The First 25 Years | Himself  | Live concert special
1981  | Johnny Cash: Live in London | Himself  | Live concert special
The Pride of Jesse Hallam | Jesse Hallam  | Television film
1982  | Saturday Night Live | Himself  | Episode: "Johnny Cash/Elton John"
Johnny Cash's America: Live at the Kennedy Center Washington, DC | Himself  | Live HBO concert special
1983  | Murder in Coweta County | Lamarr Potts  | Television film; also producer
1984  | The Baron and the Kid | The Baron
Will  | Television film
1985  | North and South | John Brown  | 6 episodes
1986  | The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James | Frank James  | Television film
Stagecoach | Curly Wilcox  | Television film
1987  | Austin City Limits | Himself  | Live concert special
1988  | The Magical World of Disney | Elder Davy Crockett | Episode: "Rainbow in the Thunder"
1993–1997  | Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman | Kid Cole  | 4 episodes
1996  | Renegade | Henry Travis  | Episode: "The Road Not Taken"
1997  | The Simpsons | Space Coyote  | Episode: "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)"; voice acting role
VH1 Storytellers | Himself  | Live concert special, episode: Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson
1998  | Johnny Cash: All My Friends Are Cowboys | Himself  | Television special
Biography | Himself  | Documentary special, episode: Johnny Cash: The Man in Black
2004  | Johnny Cash: The Last Great American | Himself  | BBC documentary special
2006  | CMT presents American Revolutions | Himself  | Documentary special, episode: The Highwaymen
2012  | Song By Song | Himself  | Documentary special, episode: Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire
2016  | American Masters | Himself  | PBS documentary special, episode: The Highwaymen: Friends Till the End
2020  | Johnny Cash & Me | Himself  | PBS documentary special
Johnny Cash: The Man in Black in Britain | Himself  | Channel 5 documentary special
2021  | Johnny Cash: Road To Redemption | Himself  | Reelz documentary special
Johnny Cash: The Man in Black | Himself  | Reelz documentary special

### Video games

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

2015  | Lego Dimensions | Space Coyote  | Archival recordings

## Published works

[edit]

* Man in Black: His Own Story in His Own Words, Zondervan, 1975; ISBN 99924-31-58-X
* Man in White, a novel about the Apostle Paul, HarperCollins, 1986; ISBN 0-06-250132-1
* Cash: The Autobiography, with Patrick Carr, HarperCollins, 1997; ISBN 978-0-06-101357-7[186]
* Johnny Cash Reads the New Testament, Thomas Nelson, 2011; ISBN 978-1-4185-4883-4[187]
* Recollections by Johnny Cash, edited by daughter Tara, 2014; ISBN 978-0-930677-03-9
* The Man Who Carried Cash: Saul Holiff, Johnny Cash, and the Making of an American Icon by Julie Chadwick, Dundurn Press, 2017; ISBN 978-1-459737-23-5
* Cash, Johnny; Mark Stielper; John Carter Cash (November 14, 2023). Johnny Cash: The Life in Lyrics. New York: Voracious; Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 9780316503105. OCLC 1407575187.

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Although Cash's voice type endured over the years, his timbre changed noticeably. Pareles writes: "Through a recording career that stretches back to 1955, Cash's bass-baritone voice has gone from gravelly to grave."[3]
2. ^ For Cash, black stage attire was a "symbol of rebellion—against a stagnant status quo, against ... hypocritical houses of God, against people whose minds are closed to others' ideas".[9]
3. ^ Schultz refers to this phrase as Cash's "trademark greeting", and places his utterance of this line, on Cash's At Folsom Prison album, "among the most electrifying [seconds] in the history of concert recording."[10]
4. ^ When RCA Victor signed Presley, it had also bought his Sun Records masters, but when Cash departed for Columbia, Phillips retained the rights to the singer's Sun masters. Columbia eventually licensed some of these recordings for release on compilations after Cash's death.
5. ^ Other appraisals of Cash's iconic value have been even bolder.[130]
6. ^ Urbanski[145] notes that Cash's habit of performing in black attire began in a church. In the following paragraph, he[146] quotes Cash[9] as indicating that this habit was partially reflective of Cash's rebellion "against our hypocritical houses of God.
7. ^ According to Urbanski, Cash's self-perception was accurate: "He never intended to be categorized or pigeonholed", and indeed he amassed a "cluster of enigmas" which "was so impenetrably deep that even those closest to him never got to see every part of him".[147]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Johnny Cash | Biography, Albums, Streaming Links". AllMusic.
2. ^ a b c d Johnson, Howard (September 12, 2016). "A tribute to Johnny Cash, the ultimate rebel and rock star". Classic Rock Magazine.
3. ^ a b c Pareles, Jon (September 16, 1994). "Pop Review; Johnny Cash, Austerely Direct From Deep Within". The New York Times. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
4. ^ Mulligan, J. (February 24, 2010), "Johnny Cash: American VI: Ain't No Grave", Entertainment.ie (album review), retrieved March 22, 2010
5. ^ Urbanski 2003, p. xiv.
6. ^ Dickie, M. (2002) [1987]. "Hard talk from the God-fearin', pro-metal man in Black". In Streissguth, M. (ed.). Ring of fire: The Johnny Cash reader. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo. pp. 201–205. ISBN 9780306811227.
7. ^ a b c Streissguth, M. (2006). Johnny Cash: a biography. Philadelphia, PA: Da Capo. p. 196. ISBN 9780306813689.
8. ^ Fox, JA (October 17, 2005), "Hard time's never a 'circus'", The Boston Herald, Baylor University, archived from the original on September 20, 2006, retrieved March 22, 2010
9. ^ a b c Cash, Johnny; Carr, Patrick (2003). Cash: The Autobiography. Harper Collins. p. 64\. ISBN 0060727535. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
10. ^ Schultz, B. (July 1, 2000), "Classic Tracks: Johnny Cash's 'Folsom Prison Blues'", Mix, archived from the original on January 2, 2010, retrieved March 22, 2010
11. ^ For discussion of, and lyrics to, Cash's songs, see Cusic, D., ed. (2004), Johnny Cash: The songs, New York, NY: Thunder's Mouth, ISBN 9781560256298[permanent dead link]
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14. ^ Miller 2003, p. 341.
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### Bibliography

[edit]

* Clapp, R (2008), Johnny Cash and the Great American Contradiction: Christianity and the Battle for the Soul of a Nation, Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, ISBN 978-0-664-23657-1.
* Gross, Terry (2004). All I Did Was Ask: Conversations with Writers, Actors, Musicians, and Artists (hardcover ed.). Hachette.
* Miller, Stephen (2003), Johnny Cash: The Life of an American Icon, Omnibus, ISBN 978-0-7119-9626-7.
* Streissguth, Michael (2004). Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: The Making of a Masterpiece (hardcover ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81338-2..
* Streissguth, Michael (2005) [2004]. Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: The Making of a Masterpiece (paperback ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81453-2..
* Turner, Stephen (2004), The Man Called Cash: The Life, Love, and Faith of an American Legend, Nashville, TN: W Publishing, ISBN 978-0-8499-1820-9.
* Urbanski, David (2003), The Man Comes Around: The Spiritual Journey of Johnny Cash, New York, NY: Relevant Books, ISBN 978-0-9729276-7-3.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Antonio D'Ambrosio, A Heartbeat and a Guitar: Johnny Cash and the Making of Bitter Tears, New York/New York, Perseus Books/Nation Books, 2009, ISBN 978-1-56858-637-3 (pb)
* Robert Hilburn, Johnny Cash: The Life, Back Bay Books, New York: Little Brown and Company, 2013, ISBN 978-0-316-19474-7 (pb)
* Jonathan Silverman, Nine Choices: Johnny Cash and American Culture, Amherst: University of Massachusetts, 2010, ISBN 1-55849-826-5
* Graeme Thomson, The Resurrection of Johnny Cash: Hurt, Redemption, and American Recordings, Jawbone Press, ISBN 978-1-906002-36-7
* Christopher S. Wren, Johnny Cash: Winners Got Scars, Too, Abacus Editions, ISBN 0-349-13740-4

## External links

[edit]

Johnny Cash at Wikipedia's sister projects

* Media from Commons
* Quotations from Wikiquote
* Data from Wikidata

* Official website
* Sony Music's Johnny Cash website
* "Candidates – Inductee Johnny Cash". Hit Parade Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on January 6, 2008..
* Johnny Cash at AllMusic
* Johnny Cash at IMDb
* Johnny Cash profile at martinguitar.com
* Holiff Family fonds / Johnny Cash collection University of Victoria Libraries, Special Collections & University Archives

Awards

First

None recognized before

|  First Amendment Center/AMA "Spirit of Americana" Free Speech Award
2002  | Succeeded by

Kris Kristofferson

Preceded by

Buddy & Julie Miller

|  AMA Album of the Year (artist)
2003  | Succeeded by

Loretta Lynn

Preceded by

Jim Lauderdale

|  AMA Artist of the Year
2003  | Succeeded by

Loretta Lynn

* v
* t
* e

Johnny Cash

* Albums
* Singles
* Sun Records
* Songs
* Awards

Studio albums|

| 1950s|

* Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar!
* The Fabulous Johnny Cash
* Hymns by Johnny Cash
* Songs of Our Soil

|

1960s|

* Ride This Train
* Now, There Was a Song!
* Hymns from the Heart
* The Sound of Johnny Cash
* Blood, Sweat and Tears
* The Christmas Spirit
* I Walk the Line
* Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian
* Orange Blossom Special
* Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West
* Everybody Loves a Nut
* Happiness Is You
* Carryin' On with Johnny Cash & June Carter
* From Sea to Shining Sea
* The Holy Land

|

1970s|

* Hello, I'm Johnny Cash
* Man in Black
* A Thing Called Love
* America: A 200-Year Salute in Story and Song
* The Johnny Cash Family Christmas
* Any Old Wind That Blows
* Johnny Cash and His Woman
* Ragged Old Flag
* The Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me
* The Johnny Cash Children's Album
* Johnny Cash Sings Precious Memories
* John R. Cash
* Look at Them Beans
* One Piece at a Time
* The Last Gunfighter Ballad
* The Rambler
* I Would Like to See You Again
* Gone Girl
* Silver
* A Believer Sings the Truth
* Johnny Cash Sings with B.C. Goodpasture Christian School

|

1980s|

* Rockabilly Blues
* Classic Christmas
* The Baron
* The Adventures of Johnny Cash
* Johnny 99
* Highwayman
* Rainbow
* Class of '55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming
* Heroes
* Believe in Him
* Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town
* Classic Cash
* Water from the Wells of Home

|

1990s|

* Highwayman 2
* Boom Chicka Boom
* The Mystery of Life
* Country Christmas
* American Recordings
* The Road Goes on Forever
* American II: Unchained

|

2000–2020s|

* American III: Solitary Man
* American IV: The Man Comes Around
* My Mother's Hymn Book
* American V: A Hundred Highways
* American VI: Ain't No Grave
* Out Among the Stars
* Songwriter

|

Live albums|

* At Folsom Prison
* At San Quentin
* The Johnny Cash Show
* På Österåker
* Strawberry Cake
* The Survivors
* Koncert v Praze (In Prague – Live)
* VH1 Storytellers: Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson
* At Madison Square Garden
* A Concert Behind Prison Walls
* Live from Austin, TX

Soundtracks|

* I Walk the Line
* Little Fauss and Big Halsy
* The Gospel Road
* Return to the Promised Land

Compilations|

* Johnny Cash Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous
* Greatest!
* Johnny Cash Sings Hank Williams
* Now Here's Johnny Cash
* All Aboard the Blue Train with Johnny Cash
* Original Sun Sound of Johnny Cash
* Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash
* Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
* Heart of Cash
* Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
* Sunday Morning Coming Down
* International Superstar
* Five Feet High and Rising
* Destination Victoria Station
* Greatest Hits, Vol. 3
* The Unissued Johnny Cash
* Johnny & June
* Tall Man
* Encore
* Biggest Hits
* The Man in Black 1954–1958
* The Man in Black 1959–1962
* Come Along and Ride This Train
* The Essential Johnny Cash (1992)
* Wanted Man
* The Man in Black 1963–1969
* The Man in Black – His Greatest Hits
* 16 Biggest Hits
* Love, God, Murder
* The Essential Johnny Cash (2002)
* 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Johnny Cash
* Unearthed
* The Legend
* The Legend of Johnny Cash
* Patriot
* 16 Biggest Hits: Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash
* The Legend of Johnny Cash Vol. II
* The Complete Columbia Album Collection
* Johnny Cash and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Songs|

* "25 Minutes to Go"
* "Any Old Wind That Blows"
* "A Wonderful Time Up There"
* "The Ballad of Boot Hill"
* "The Ballad of Ira Hayes"
* "Ballad of a Teenage Queen"
* "Big River"
* "Blistered"
* "A Boy Named Sue"
* "Busted"
* "Cat's in the Cradle"
* "Cocaine Blues"
* "Cry! Cry! Cry!"
* "Daddy Sang Bass"
* "Dark as a Dungeon"
* "Don't Take Your Guns to Town"
* "Engine 143"
* "Flesh and Blood"
* "The Folk Singer"
* "Folsom Prison Blues"
* "Forty Shades of Green"
* "Get Rhythm"
* "Give My Love to Rose"
* "Goodnight, Irene"
* "Green, Green Grass of Home"
* "Greystone Chapel"
* "Guess Things Happen That Way"
* "Hey, Porter"
* "Home of the Blues"
* "Hurt"
* "I Couldn't Keep from Crying"
* "I Love You Because"
* "I Still Miss Someone"
* "I Walk the Line"
* "If I Had a Hammer"
* "If I Were a Carpenter"
* "In My Life"
* "In the Jailhouse Now"
* "It Ain't Me Babe"
* "Jackson"
* "Kate"
* "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream"
* "The Man Comes Around"
* "Man in Black"
* "The Matador"
* "Oh Lonesome Me"
* "One Piece at a Time"
* "Oney"
* "Orange Blossom Special"
* "The One on the Right Is on the Left"
* "Personal Jesus"
* "Ragged Old Flag"
* "Remember the Alamo"
* "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky"
* "Ring of Fire"
* "Rock Island Line"
* "Seasons of My Heart"
* "So Doggone Lonesome"
* "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down"
* "Tennessee Flat Top Box"
* "There Ain't No Good Chain Gang"
* "A Thing Called Love"
* "Understand Your Man"
* "What Is Truth"
* "What'd I Say"
* "Without Love"
* "You Are My Sunshine"

Film|

* Gospel Road: A Story of Jesus

Television|

* The Johnny Cash Show

Biographies|

* Man in Black: His Own Story in His Own Words
* Cash: The Autobiography
* Johnny Cash! The Man, His World, His Music
* My Father and the Man in Black
* Walk the Line
* Ring of Fire (musical)
* Ring of Fire (2013 film)
* My Darling Vivian

Tribute albums|

* The Sound Behind Johnny Cash
* Kindred Spirits: A Tribute to the Songs of Johnny Cash
* Dressed in Black: A Tribute to Johnny Cash
* Johnny's Blues: A Tribute to Johnny Cash
* Walk the Line: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
* Fade to Black: Memories of Johnny
* All Aboard: A Tribute to Johnny Cash
* Johnny Cash Remixed
* We Walk the Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash
* Forever Words

Associated acts|

* The Highwaymen
* The Tennessee Three
* Bob Wootton
* Carl Perkins
* W. S. Holland
* Marshall Grant
* Luther Perkins
* Million Dollar Quartet
* The Great Eighties Eight

Family|

* June Carter Cash
* John Carter Cash
* Rosanne Cash
* Cindy Cash
* Carlene Carter
* Tommy Cash
* Carter Family

Historical sites|

* Johnny Cash Boyhood Home
* Dyess, Arkansas
* Johnny Cash Museum
* House of Cash
* Carter Family Fold

Legacy|

* Statue of Johnny Cash

Category

Awards for Johnny Cash

* v
* t
* e

American Music Award of Merit

* Bing Crosby (1974)
* Berry Gordy (1975)
* Irving Berlin (1976)
* Johnny Cash (1977)
* Ella Fitzgerald (1978)
* Perry Como (1979)
* Benny Goodman (1980)
* Chuck Berry (1981)
* Stevie Wonder (1982)
* Kenny Rogers (1983)
* Michael Jackson (1984)
* Loretta Lynn (1985)
* Paul McCartney (1986)
* Elvis Presley (1987)
* The Beach Boys (1988)
* Willie Nelson (1989)
* Neil Diamond (1990)
* Merle Haggard (1991)
* James Brown (1992)
* Bill Graham (1993)
* Whitney Houston (1994)
* Prince (1995)
* Tammy Wynette (1996)
* Little Richard (1997)
* Frank Sinatra (1998)
* Billy Joel (1999)
* Gloria Estefan (2000)
* Janet Jackson (2001)
* Garth Brooks (2002)
* Alabama (2003)
* Bon Jovi (2004)
* Annie Lennox (2008)
* Sting (2016)

* v
* t
* e

CMA Album of the Year

1967−1970|

* There Goes My Everything – Jack Greene (1967)
* Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison – Johnny Cash (1968)
* Johnny Cash At San Quentin – Johnny Cash (1969)
* Okie from Muskogee – Merle Haggard and the Strangers (1970)

1971−1980|

* I Won't Mention It Again – Ray Price (1971)
* Let Me Tell You About a Song – Merle Haggard and the Strangers (1972)
* Behind Closed Doors – Charlie Rich (1973)
* A Very Special Love Song – Charlie Rich (1974)
* A Legend in My Time – Ronnie Milsap (1975)
* Wanted! The Outlaws – Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser (1976)
* Ronnie Milsap Live – Ronnie Milsap (1977)
* It Was Almost Like a Song – Ronnie Milsap (1978)
* The Gambler – Kenny Rogers (1979)
* Coal Miner's Daughter – Various artists (1980)

1981−1990|

* I Believe in You – Don Williams (1981)
* Always on My Mind – Willie Nelson (1982)
* The Closer You Get – Alabama (1983)
* A Little Good News – Anne Murray (1984)
* Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind – George Strait (1985)
* Lost in the Fifties Tonight – Ronnie Milsap (1986)
* Always And Forever – Randy Travis (1987)
* Born to Boogie – Hank Williams Jr. (1988)
* Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two – Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (1989)
* Pickin' on Nashville – The Kentucky Headhunters (1990)

1991−2000|

* No Fences – Garth Brooks (1991)
* Ropin' the Wind – Garth Brooks (1992)
* I Still Believe in You – Vince Gill (1993)
* Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles – Various artists (1994)
* When Fallen Angels Fly – Patty Loveless (1995)
* Blue Clear Sky – George Strait (1996)
* Carrying Your Love with Me – George Strait (1997)
* Everywhere – Tim McGraw (1998)
* A Place in the Sun – Tim McGraw (1999)
* Fly – The Dixie Chicks (2000)

2001−2010|

* O Brother, Where Art Thou? – Various artists (2001)
* Drive – Alan Jackson (2002)
* American IV: The Man Comes Around – Johnny Cash (2003)
* When the Sun Goes Down – Kenny Chesney (2004)
* There's More Where That Came From – Lee Ann Womack (2005)
* Time Well Wasted – Brad Paisley (2006)
* It Just Comes Natural – George Strait (2007)
* Troubadour – George Strait (2008)
* Fearless – Taylor Swift (2009)
* Revolution – Miranda Lambert (2010)

2011−2020|

* My Kinda Party – Jason Aldean (2011)
* Chief – Eric Church (2012)
* Based on a True Story... – Blake Shelton (2013)
* Platinum – Miranda Lambert (2014)
* Traveller – Chris Stapleton (2015)
* Mr. Misunderstood – Eric Church (2016)
* From A Room: Volume 1 – Chris Stapleton (2017)
* Golden Hour – Kacey Musgraves (2018)
* Girl – Maren Morris (2019)
* What You See Is What You Get – Luke Combs (2020)

2021−2030|

* Starting Over – Chris Stapleton (2021)
* Growin' Up – Luke Combs (2022)
* Bell Bottom Country \- Lainey Wilson (2023)
* Leather \- Cody Johnson (2024)

* v
* t
* e

CMA Entertainer of the Year

* Eddy Arnold (1967)
* Glen Campbell (1968)
* Johnny Cash (1969)
* Merle Haggard (1970)
* Charley Pride (1971)
* Loretta Lynn (1972)
* Roy Clark (1973)
* Charlie Rich (1974)
* John Denver (1975)
* Mel Tillis (1976)
* Ronnie Milsap (1977)
* Dolly Parton (1978)
* Willie Nelson (1979)
* Barbara Mandrell (1980)
* Barbara Mandrell (1981)
* Alabama (1982)
* Alabama (1983)
* Alabama (1984)
* Ricky Skaggs (1985)
* Reba McEntire (1986)
* Hank Williams Jr. (1987)
* Hank Williams Jr. (1988)
* George Strait (1989)
* George Strait (1990)
* Garth Brooks (1991)
* Garth Brooks (1992)
* Vince Gill (1993)
* Vince Gill (1994)
* Alan Jackson (1995)
* Brooks & Dunn (1996)
* Garth Brooks (1997)
* Garth Brooks (1998)
* Shania Twain (1999)
* Dixie Chicks (2000)
* Tim McGraw (2001)
* Alan Jackson (2002)
* Alan Jackson (2003)
* Kenny Chesney (2004)
* Keith Urban (2005)
* Kenny Chesney (2006)
* Kenny Chesney (2007)
* Kenny Chesney (2008)
* Taylor Swift (2009)
* Brad Paisley (2010)
* Taylor Swift (2011)
* Blake Shelton (2012)
* George Strait (2013)
* Luke Bryan (2014)
* Luke Bryan (2015)
* Garth Brooks (2016)
* Garth Brooks (2017)
* Keith Urban (2018)
* Garth Brooks (2019)
* Eric Church (2020)
* Luke Combs (2021)
* Luke Combs (2022)
* Lainey Wilson (2023)
* Morgan Wallen (2024)

* v
* t
* e

CMA Male Vocalist of the Year

* Jack Greene (1967)
* Glen Campbell (1968)
* Johnny Cash (1969)
* Merle Haggard (1970)
* Charley Pride (1971)
* Charley Pride (1972)
* Charlie Rich (1973)
* Ronnie Milsap (1974)
* Waylon Jennings (1975)
* Ronnie Milsap (1976)
* Ronnie Milsap (1977)
* Don Williams (1978)
* Kenny Rogers (1979)
* George Jones (1980)
* George Jones (1981)
* Ricky Skaggs (1982)
* Lee Greenwood (1983)
* Lee Greenwood (1984)
* George Strait (1985)
* George Strait (1986)
* Randy Travis (1987)
* Randy Travis (1988)
* Ricky Van Shelton (1989)
* Clint Black (1990)
* Vince Gill (1991)
* Vince Gill (1992)
* Vince Gill (1993)
* Vince Gill (1994)
* Vince Gill (1995)
* George Strait (1996)
* George Strait (1997)
* George Strait (1998)
* Tim McGraw (1999)
* Tim McGraw (2000)
* Toby Keith (2001)
* Alan Jackson (2002)
* Alan Jackson (2003)
* Keith Urban (2004)
* Keith Urban (2005)
* Keith Urban (2006)
* Brad Paisley (2007)
* Brad Paisley (2008)
* Brad Paisley (2009)
* Blake Shelton (2010)
* Blake Shelton (2011)
* Blake Shelton (2012)
* Blake Shelton (2013)
* Blake Shelton (2014)
* Chris Stapleton (2015)
* Chris Stapleton (2016)
* Chris Stapleton (2017)
* Chris Stapleton (2018)
* Luke Combs (2019)
* Luke Combs (2020)
* Chris Stapleton (2021)
* Chris Stapleton (2022)
* Chris Stapleton (2023)
* Chris Stapleton (2024)

* v
* t
* e

CMA Vocal Group of the Year

* The Stoneman Family (1967)
* Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner (1968)
* Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash (1969)
* Tompall & the Glaser Brothers (1970)
* Osborne Brothers (1971)
* The Statler Brothers (1972)
* The Statler Brothers (1973)
* The Statler Brothers (1974)
* The Statler Brothers (1975)
* The Statler Brothers (1976)
* The Statler Brothers (1977)
* The Oak Ridge Boys (1978)
* The Statler Brothers (1979)
* The Statler Brothers (1980)
* Alabama (1981)
* Alabama (1982)
* Alabama (1983)
* The Statler Brothers (1984)
* The Judds (1985)
* The Judds (1986)
* The Judds (1987)
* Highway 101 (1988)
* Highway 101 (1989)
* The Kentucky Headhunters (1990)
* The Kentucky Headhunters (1991)
* Diamond Rio (1992)
* Diamond Rio (1993)
* Diamond Rio (1994)
* The Mavericks (1995)
* The Mavericks (1996)
* Diamond Rio (1997)
* Dixie Chicks (1998)
* Dixie Chicks (1999)
* Dixie Chicks (2000)
* Lonestar (2001)
* Dixie Chicks (2002)
* Rascal Flatts (2003)
* Rascal Flatts (2004)
* Rascal Flatts (2005)
* Rascal Flatts (2006)
* Rascal Flatts (2007)
* Rascal Flatts (2008)
* Lady Antebellum (2009)
* Lady Antebellum (2010)
* Lady Antebellum (2011)
* Little Big Town (2012)
* Little Big Town (2013)
* Little Big Town (2014)
* Little Big Town (2015)
* Little Big Town (2016)
* Little Big Town (2017)
* Old Dominion (2018)
* Old Dominion (2019)
* Old Dominion (2020)
* Old Dominion (2021)
* Old Dominion (2022)
* Old Dominion (2023)
* Old Dominion (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award

* Willie Nelson (2012)
* Kenny Rogers (2013)
* Johnny Cash (2015)
* Dolly Parton (2016)
* Kris Kristofferson (2019)
* Charley Pride (2020)
* Loretta Lynn (2021)
* Alan Jackson (2022)
* George Strait (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Country Music Hall of Fame 1980s

* Johnny Cash (1980)
* Connie B. Gay (1980)
* Sons of the Pioneers (1980)
* Vernon Dalhart (1981)
* Grant Turner (1981)
* Lefty Frizzell (1982)
* Roy Horton (1982)
* Marty Robbins (1982)
* Little Jimmy Dickens (1983)
* Ralph Peer (1984)
* Floyd Tillman (1984)
* Flatt and Scruggs (1985)
* The Duke of Paducah (1986)
* Wesley Rose (1986)
* Rod Brasfield (1987)
* Loretta Lynn (1988)
* Roy Rogers (1988)
* Jack Stapp (1989)
* Cliffie Stone (1989)
* Hank Thompson (1989)

* v
* t
* e

Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording

1950s|

* The Best of the Stan Freberg Shows – Stan Freberg (1959)

1960s|

* Lincoln Portrait – Carl Sandburg (1960)
* FDR Speaks – Robert Bialek (producer) (1961)
* Humor in Music – Leonard Bernstein (1962)
* The Story-Teller: A Session with Charles Laughton – Charles Laughton (1963)
* Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – Edward Albee (playwright) (1964)
* BBC Tribute to John F. Kennedy – That Was the Week That Was (1965)
* John F. Kennedy: As We Remember Him – Goddard Lieberson (producer) (1966)
* Edward R. Murrow - A Reporter Remembers, Vol. I: The War Years – Edward R. Murrow (1967)
* Gallant Men – Everett Dirksen (1968)
* Lonesome Cities – Rod McKuen (1969)

1970s|

* We Love You Call Collect – Art Linkletter & Diane Linkletter (1970)
* Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam – Martin Luther King Jr. (1971)
* Desiderata – Les Crane (1972)
* Lenny – Bruce Botnick (producer) & the Original Broadway Cast (1973)
* Jonathan Livingston Seagull – Richard Harris (1974)
* Good Evening – Peter Cook and Dudley Moore (1975)
* Give 'em Hell, Harry! – James Whitmore (1976)
* Great American Documents – Henry Fonda, Helen Hayes, James Earl Jones, and Orson Welles (1977)
* The Belle of Amherst – Julie Harris (1978)
* Citizen Kane (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) – Orson Welles (1979)

1980s|

* Ages of Man: Readings from Shakespeare – John Gielgud (1980)
* Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein – Pat Carroll (1981)
* Donovan's Brain – Orson Welles (1982)
* Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Movie on Record – Tom Voegeli (producer) and Various Artists (1983)
* Lincoln Portrait – William Warfield (1984)
* The Words of Gandhi – Ben Kingsley (1985)
* Ma Rainey's Black Bottom – Mike Berniker (producer) & the Original Broadway Cast (1986)
* Interviews from the Class of '55 Recording Sessions – Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chips Moman, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, and Sam Phillips (1987)
* Lake Wobegon Days – Garrison Keillor (1988)
* Speech by Rev. Jesse Jackson – Jesse Jackson (1989)

1990s|

* It's Always Something – Gilda Radner (1990)
* Gracie: A Love Story – George Burns (1991)
* The Civil War – Ken Burns (1992)
* What You Can Do to Avoid AIDS – Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Robert O'Keefe (1993)
* On the Pulse of Morning – Maya Angelou (1994)
* Get in the Van – Henry Rollins (1995)
* Phenomenal Woman – Maya Angelou (1996)
* It Takes a Village – Hillary Clinton (1997)
* Charles Kuralt's Spring – Charles Kuralt (1998)
* Still Me – Christopher Reeve (1999)

2000s|

* The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. – LeVar Burton (2000)
* The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography – Sidney Poitier, Rick Harris, and John Runnette (producers) (2001)
* Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones – Quincy Jones, Jeffrey S. Thomas, Steven Strassman (engineers), and Elisa Shokoff (producer) (2002)
* A Song Flung Up to Heaven – Maya Angelou and Charles B. Potter (producer) (2003)
* Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them – Al Franken and Paul Ruben (producer) (2004)
* My Life – Bill Clinton (2005)
* Dreams from My Father – Barack Obama (2006)
* Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis – Jimmy Carter / With Ossie and Ruby – Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee (2007)
* The Audacity of Hope – Barack Obama and Jacob Bronstein (producer) (2008)
* An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore – Beau Bridges, Cynthia Nixon, and Blair Underwood (2009)

2010s|

* Always Looking Up – Michael J. Fox (2010)
* The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The Audiobook) – Jon Stewart (2011)
* If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won't) – Betty White (2012)
* Society's Child – Janis Ian (2013)
* America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't – Stephen Colbert (2014)
* Diary of a Mad Diva – Joan Rivers (2015)
* A Full Life: Reflections at 90 – Jimmy Carter (2016)
* In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem, and Fun in the Sandbox – Carol Burnett (2017)
* The Princess Diarist – Carrie Fisher (2018)
* Faith: A Journey for All – Jimmy Carter (2019)

2020s|

* Becoming – Michelle Obama (2020)
* Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth – Rachel Maddow (2021)
* Carry On: Reflections for a New Generation from John Lewis − Don Cheadle (2022)
* Finding Me – Viola Davis (2023)
* The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times – Michelle Obama (2024)
* Last Sunday in Plains: A Centennial Celebration – Jimmy Carter (2025)

* v
* t
* e

Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Country Album

1965–1966
(as Best Country & Western Album)|

* Dang Me/Chug-a-Lug – Roger Miller (1965)
* The Return of Roger Miller – Roger Miller (1967)

1995–2025
(as Best Country Album)|

* Stones in the Road – Mary Chapin Carpenter (1995)
* The Woman in Me – Shania Twain (1996)
* The Road to Ensenada – Lyle Lovett (1997)
* Unchained – Johnny Cash (1998)
* Wide Open Spaces – Dixie Chicks (1999)
* Fly – Dixie Chicks (2000)
* Breathe – Faith Hill (2001)
* Timeless: Hank Williams Tribute – Various Artists (2002)
* Home – Dixie Chicks (2003)
* Livin', Lovin', Losin': Songs of the Louvin Brothers – Various Artists (2004)
* Van Lear Rose – Loretta Lynn (2005)
* Lonely Runs Both Ways – Alison Krauss & Union Station (2006)
* Taking the Long Way – Dixie Chicks (2007)
* These Days – Vince Gill (2008)
* Troubadour – George Strait (2009)
* Fearless – Taylor Swift (2010)
* Need You Now – Lady Antebellum (2011)
* Own the Night – Lady Antebellum (2012)
* Uncaged – Zac Brown Band (2013)
* Same Trailer Different Park – Kacey Musgraves (2014)
* Platinum – Miranda Lambert (2015)
* Traveller – Chris Stapleton (2016)
* A Sailor's Guide to Earth – Sturgill Simpson (2017)
* From A Room: Volume 1 – Chris Stapleton (2018)
* Golden Hour – Kacey Musgraves (2019)
* While I'm Livin' – Tanya Tucker (2020)
* Wildcard – Miranda Lambert (2021)
* Starting Over – Chris Stapleton (2022)
* A Beautiful Time – Willie Nelson (2023)
* Bell Bottom Country – Lainey Wilson (2024)
* Cowboy Carter – Beyoncé (2025)

From 1966–1993, the category was retired.

* v
* t
* e

Grammy Award for Best Music Video

1980s|

* "Girls on Film" / "Hungry Like the Wolf" – Duran Duran (1984)
* "Jazzin' for Blue Jean" – David Bowie (1985)
* "We Are the World" – USA for Africa (1986)
* "Brothers in Arms" – Dire Straits (1987)

1990s|

* "Leave Me Alone" – Michael Jackson (1990)
* "Opposites Attract" – Paula Abdul (1991)
* "Losing My Religion" – R.E.M. (1992)
* "Digging in the Dirt" – Peter Gabriel (1993)
* "Steam" – Peter Gabriel (1994)
* "Love Is Strong" – The Rolling Stones (1995)
* "Scream" – Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson (1996)
* "Free as a Bird" – The Beatles (1997)
* "Got 'til It's Gone" – Janet Jackson (1998)
* "Ray of Light" – Madonna (1999)

2000s|

* "Freak on a Leash" – Korn (2000)
* "Learn to Fly" – Foo Fighters (2001)
* "Weapon of Choice" – Fatboy Slim featuring Bootsy Collins (2002)
* "Without Me" - Eminem (2003)
* "Hurt" – Johnny Cash (2004)
* "Vertigo" – U2 (2005)
* "Lose Control" – Missy Elliott featuring Ciara & Fatman Scoop (2006)
* "Here It Goes Again" – OK Go (2007)
* "God's Gonna Cut You Down" – Johnny Cash (2008)
* "Pork and Beans" – Weezer (2009)

2010s|

* "Boom Boom Pow" – Black Eyed Peas (2010)
* "Bad Romance" – Lady Gaga (2011)
* "Rolling in the Deep" – Adele (2012)
* "We Found Love" – Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris (2013)
* "Suit & Tie" – Justin Timberlake featuring Jay-Z (2014)
* "Happy" – Pharrell Williams (2015)
* "Bad Blood" – Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar (2016)
* "Formation" – Beyoncé (2017)
* "Humble" – Kendrick Lamar (2018)
* "This Is America" – Childish Gambino (2019)

2020s|

* "Old Town Road" – Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus (2020)
* "Brown Skin Girl" – Beyoncé, Blue Ivy & Wizkid (2021)
* "Freedom" – Jon Batiste (2022)
* All Too Well: The Short Film – Taylor Swift (2023)
* "I'm Only Sleeping" – The Beatles (2024)
* "Not Like Us" – Kendrick Lamar (2025)

* v
* t
* e

Grammy Legend Award

* Andrew Lloyd Webber / Liza Minnelli / Willie Nelson / Smokey Robinson (1990)
* Johnny Cash / Aretha Franklin / Billy Joel / Quincy Jones (1991)
* Barbra Streisand (1992)
* Michael Jackson (1993)
* Curtis Mayfield / Frank Sinatra (1994)
* Luciano Pavarotti (1998)
* Elton John (1999)
* Bee Gees (2003)

* v
* t
* e

Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award

1963–1990|

* 1963
* Bing Crosby
* 1965
* Frank Sinatra
* 1966
* Duke Ellington
* 1967
* Ella Fitzgerald
* 1968
* Irving Berlin
* 1971
* Elvis Presley
* 1972
* Louis Armstrong
* Mahalia Jackson
* 1984
* Chuck Berry
* Charlie Parker
* 1985
* Leonard Bernstein
* 1986
* Benny Goodman
* The Rolling Stones
* Andrés Segovia
* 1987
* Roy Acuff
* Benny Carter
* Enrico Caruso
* Ray Charles
* Fats Domino
* Woody Herman
* Billie Holiday
* B. B. King
* Isaac Stern
* Igor Stravinsky
* Arturo Toscanini
* Hank Williams
* 1989
* Fred Astaire
* Pablo Casals
* Dizzy Gillespie
* Jascha Heifetz
* Lena Horne
* Leontyne Price
* Bessie Smith
* Art Tatum
* Sarah Vaughan
* 1990
* Nat King Cole
* Miles Davis
* Vladimir Horowitz
* Paul McCartney

1991–2000|

* 1991
* Marian Anderson
* Bob Dylan
* John Lennon
* Kitty Wells
* 1992
* James Brown
* John Coltrane
* Jimi Hendrix
* Muddy Waters
* 1993
* Chet Atkins
* Little Richard
* Thelonious Monk
* Bill Monroe
* Pete Seeger
* Fats Waller
* 1994
* Bill Evans
* Aretha Franklin
* Arthur Rubinstein
* 1995
* Patsy Cline
* Peggy Lee
* Henry Mancini
* Curtis Mayfield
* Barbra Streisand
* 1996
* Dave Brubeck
* Marvin Gaye
* Georg Solti
* Stevie Wonder
* 1997
* Bobby "Blue" Bland
* The Everly Brothers
* Judy Garland
* Stéphane Grappelli
* Buddy Holly
* Charles Mingus
* Oscar Peterson
* Frank Zappa
* 1998
* Bo Diddley
* The Mills Brothers
* Roy Orbison
* Paul Robeson
* 1999
* Johnny Cash
* Sam Cooke
* Otis Redding
* Smokey Robinson
* Mel Tormé
* 2000
* Harry Belafonte
* Woody Guthrie
* John Lee Hooker
* Mitch Miller
* Willie Nelson

2001–2010|

* 2001
* The Beach Boys
* Tony Bennett
* Sammy Davis Jr.
* Bob Marley
* The Who
* 2002
* Count Basie
* Rosemary Clooney
* Perry Como
* Al Green
* Joni Mitchell
* 2003
* Etta James
* Johnny Mathis
* Glenn Miller
* Tito Puente
* Simon & Garfunkel
* 2004
* Van Cliburn
* The Funk Brothers
* Ella Jenkins
* Sonny Rollins
* Artie Shaw
* Doc Watson
* 2005
* Eddy Arnold
* Art Blakey
* The Carter Family
* Morton Gould
* Janis Joplin
* Led Zeppelin
* Jerry Lee Lewis
* Jelly Roll Morton
* Pinetop Perkins
* The Staple Singers
* 2006
* David Bowie
* Cream
* Merle Haggard
* Robert Johnson
* Jessye Norman
* Richard Pryor
* The Weavers
* 2007
* Joan Baez
* Booker T. & the M.G.'s
* Maria Callas
* Ornette Coleman
* The Doors
* The Grateful Dead
* Bob Wills
* 2008
* Burt Bacharach
* The Band
* Cab Calloway
* Doris Day
* Itzhak Perlman
* Max Roach
* Earl Scruggs
* 2009
* Gene Autry
* The Blind Boys of Alabama
* The Four Tops
* Hank Jones
* Brenda Lee
* Dean Martin
* Tom Paxton
* 2010
* Leonard Cohen
* Bobby Darin
* David "Honeyboy" Edwards
* Michael Jackson
* Loretta Lynn
* André Previn
* Clark Terry

2011–2020|

* 2011
* Julie Andrews
* Roy Haynes
* Juilliard String Quartet
* The Kingston Trio
* Dolly Parton
* Ramones
* George Beverly Shea
* 2012
* The Allman Brothers Band
* Glen Campbell
* Antônio Carlos Jobim
* George Jones
* The Memphis Horns
* Diana Ross
* Gil Scott-Heron
* 2013
* Glenn Gould
* Charlie Haden
* Lightnin' Hopkins
* Carole King
* Patti Page
* Ravi Shankar
* The Temptations
* 2014
* The Beatles
* Clifton Chenier
* The Isley Brothers
* Kraftwerk
* Kris Kristofferson
* Armando Manzanero
* Maud Powell
* 2015
* Bee Gees
* Pierre Boulez
* Buddy Guy
* George Harrison
* Flaco Jiménez
* The Louvin Brothers
* Wayne Shorter
* 2016
* Ruth Brown
* Celia Cruz
* Earth, Wind & Fire
* Herbie Hancock
* Jefferson Airplane
* Linda Ronstadt
* Run-DMC
* 2017
* Shirley Caesar
* Ahmad Jamal
* Charley Pride
* Jimmie Rodgers
* Nina Simone
* Sly Stone
* The Velvet Underground
* 2018
* Hal Blaine
* Neil Diamond
* Emmylou Harris
* Louis Jordan
* The Meters
* Queen
* Tina Turner
* 2019
* Black Sabbath
* George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic
* Billy Eckstine
* Donny Hathaway
* Julio Iglesias
* Sam & Dave
* Dionne Warwick
* 2020
* Chicago
* Roberta Flack
* Isaac Hayes
* Iggy Pop
* John Prine
* Public Enemy
* Sister Rosetta Tharpe

2021–present|

* 2021
* Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
* Lionel Hampton
* Marilyn Horne
* Salt-N-Pepa
* Selena
* Talking Heads
* 2022
* Bonnie Raitt
* 2023
* Bobby McFerrin
* Nirvana
* Ma Rainey
* Slick Rick
* Nile Rodgers
* The Supremes
* Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson
* 2024
* Laurie Anderson
* The Clark Sisters
* Gladys Knight
* N.W.A
* Donna Summer
* Tammy Wynette
* 2025
* Frankie Beverly
* The Clash
* Bobby Jones
* Taj Mahal
* Prince
* Roxanne Shante
* Frankie Valli

* v
* t
* e

Kennedy Center Honorees (1990s)

1990|

* Dizzy Gillespie
* Katharine Hepburn
* Risë Stevens
* Jule Styne
* Billy Wilder

1991|

* Roy Acuff
* Betty Comden and Adolph Green
* Fayard and Harold Nicholas
* Gregory Peck
* Robert Shaw

1992|

* Lionel Hampton
* Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward
* Ginger Rogers
* Mstislav Rostropovich
* Paul Taylor

1993|

* Johnny Carson
* Arthur Mitchell
* Sir Georg Solti
* Stephen Sondheim
* Marion Williams

1994|

* Kirk Douglas
* Aretha Franklin
* Morton Gould
* Harold Prince
* Pete Seeger

1995|

* Jacques d'Amboise
* Marilyn Horne
* B.B. King
* Sidney Poitier
* Neil Simon

1996|

* Edward Albee
* Benny Carter
* Johnny Cash
* Jack Lemmon
* Maria Tallchief

1997|

* Lauren Bacall
* Bob Dylan
* Charlton Heston
* Jessye Norman
* Edward Villella

1998|

* ~~Bill Cosby~~
* Fred Ebb and John Kander
* Willie Nelson
* André Previn
* Shirley Temple Black

1999|

* Victor Borge
* Sean Connery
* Judith Jamison
* Jason Robards
* Stevie Wonder

* Complete list
* 1970s
* 1980s
* 1990s
* 2000s
* 2010s
* 2020s

* v
* t
* e

National Medal of Arts recipients (2000s)

2000|

* Maya Angelou
* Eddy Arnold
* Mikhail Baryshnikov
* Benny Carter
* Chuck Close
* Horton Foote
* Lewis Manilow
* National Public Radio, cultural programming division
* Claes Oldenburg
* Itzhak Perlman
* Harold Prince
* Barbra Streisand

2001|

* Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation
* Rudolfo Anaya
* Johnny Cash
* Kirk Douglas
* Helen Frankenthaler
* Judith Jamison
* Yo-Yo Ma
* Mike Nichols

2002|

* Florence Knoll Bassett
* Trisha Brown
* Philippe de Montebello
* Uta Hagen
* Lawrence Halprin
* Al Hirschfeld
* George Jones
* Ming Cho Lee
* William "Smokey" Robinson

2003|

* Austin City Limits
* Beverly Cleary
* Rafe Esquith
* Suzanne Farrell
* Buddy Guy
* Ron Howard
* Tabernacle Choir
* Leonard Slatkin
* George Strait
* Tommy Tune

2004|

* Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
* Ray Bradbury
* Carlisle Floyd
* Frederick Hart
* Anthony Hecht
* John Ruthven
* Vincent Scully
* Twyla Tharp

2005|

* Louis Auchincloss
* James DePreist
* Paquito D'Rivera
* Robert Duvall
* Leonard Garment
* Ollie Johnston
* Wynton Marsalis
* Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
* Tina Ramirez
* Dolly Parton

2006|

* William Bolcom
* Cyd Charisse
* Roy DeCarava
* Wilhelmina Holladay
* Interlochen Center for the Arts
* Erich Kunzel
* Preservation Hall Jazz Band
* Gregory Rabassa
* Viktor Schreckengost
* Ralph Stanley

2007|

* Morten Lauridsen
* N. Scott Momaday
* Craig Noel
* Roy Neuberger
* Les Paul
* Henry Z. Steinway
* George Tooker
* Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival (University of Idaho)
* Andrew Wyeth

2008|

* Stan Lee
* Richard M. Sherman
* Robert B. Sherman
* Olivia de Havilland
* Hank Jones
* Jesús Moroles
* Ford's Theatre Society
* Fisk Jubilee Singers, (Fisk University)
* José Limón Dance Foundation
* The Presser Foundation

2009|

* Bob Dylan
* Clint Eastwood
* Milton Glaser
* Maya Lin
* Rita Moreno
* Jessye Norman
* Joseph P. Riley Jr.
* Frank Stella
* Michael Tilson Thomas
* John Williams
* Oberlin Conservatory of Music
* School of American Ballet

* Complete list
* 1980s
* 1990s
* 2000s
* 2010s

* v
* t
* e

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – Class of 1992

Performers|

* Bobby Bland
* Booker T. & the M.G.'s
* Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Al Jackson Jr., Booker T. Jones, Lewie Steinberg
* Johnny Cash
* The Isley Brothers
* Ernie Isley, Marvin Isley, O'Kelly Isley Jr., Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley, Chris Jasper
* The Jimi Hendrix Experience
* Jimi Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell, Noel Redding
* Sam & Dave
* Sam Moore, Dave Prater
* The Yardbirds
* Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Chris Dreja, Jim McCarty, Jimmy Page, Keith Relf, Paul Samwell-Smith

Early influences|

* Elmore James
* Professor Longhair

Non-performers
(Ahmet Ertegun Award)|

* Leo Fender
* Bill Graham
* Doc Pomus

* v
* t
* e

The Highwaymen

* Johnny Cash
* Waylon Jennings
* Kris Kristofferson
* Willie Nelson

Studio albums|

* Highwayman
* Highwayman 2
* The Road Goes On Forever

Singles|

* "Highwayman"
* "Desperados Waiting for a Train"
* "Silver Stallion"
* "Born and Raised in Black and White"
* "It Is What It Is"

* v
* t
* e

Members of the Grand Ole Opry

Current members|

* Trace Adkins
* Lauren Alaina
* Bill Anderson
* Kelsea Ballerini
* Bobby Bare
* Mandy Barnett
* Dierks Bentley
* Clint Black
* Garth Brooks
* T. Graham Brown
* Steven Curtis Chapman
* Henry Cho
* Terri Clark
* Luke Combs
* John Conlee
* Dailey & Vincent
* Diamond Rio
* Sara Evans
* Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers
* Crystal Gayle
* Vince Gill
* Emmylou Harris
* The Isaacs
* Alan Jackson
* Chris Janson
* Jamey Johnson
* Alison Krauss
* Lady A
* Little Big Town
* Patty Loveless
* Dustin Lynch
* Barbara Mandrell
* Martina McBride
* Ashley McBryde
* Del McCoury
* Charlie McCoy
* Scotty McCreery
* Reba McEntire
* Ronnie Milsap
* Eddie Montgomery
* Craig Morgan
* Lorrie Morgan
* Gary Mule Deer
* The Oak Ridge Boys
* Old Crow Medicine Show
* Brad Paisley
* Jon Pardi
* Dolly Parton
* Carly Pearce
* Stu Phillips
* Jeanne Pruett
* Rascal Flatts
* Riders in the Sky
* Darius Rucker
* Don Schlitz
* Jeannie Seely
* Blake Shelton
* Ricky Van Shelton
* Ricky Skaggs
* Connie Smith
* Mike Snider
* Marty Stuart
* Pam Tillis
* Randy Travis
* Travis Tritt
* Josh Turner
* Carrie Underwood
* Keith Urban
* Rhonda Vincent
* Steve Wariner
* Gene Watson
* The Whites
* Mark Wills
* Lainey Wilson
* Trisha Yearwood
* Chris Young

Former members|

* Roy Acuff
* David "Stringbean" Akeman
* Jack Anglin
* Eddy Arnold
* Ernest Ashworth
* Chet Atkins
* DeFord Bailey
* Bashful Brother Oswald
* Humphrey Bate
* Binkley Brothers' Dixie Clodhoppers
* Margie Bowes
* Rod Brasfield
* Jim Ed Brown
* The Browns
* Carl Butler and Pearl
* Archie Campbell
* Bill Carlisle
* Martha Carson
* The Carter Sisters
* Maybelle Carter
* Johnny Cash
* June Carter Cash
* Roy Clark
* Zeke Clements
* Patsy Cline
* Jerry Clower
* Stoney Cooper
* Wilma Lee Cooper
* Cowboy Copas
* Charlie Daniels
* Skeeter Davis
* The Delmore Brothers
* The DeZurik Sisters
* Little Jimmy Dickens
* Joe Diffie
* Danny Dill
* Jimmy Driftwood
* Roy Drusky
* The Duke of Paducah
* Holly Dunn
* The Everly Brothers
* Lester Flatt
* Red Foley
* Curly Fox
* Lefty Frizzell
* Troy Gentry
* Don Gibson
* Billy Grammer
* Jack Greene
* The Gully Jumpers
* Theron Hale
* Tom T. Hall
* George Hamilton IV
* Sid Harkreader
* Hawkshaw Hawkins
* George D. Hay
* Hoot Hester
* Goldie Hill
* David Houston
* Jan Howard
* Ferlin Husky
* Stonewall Jackson
* Sonny James
* Norma Jean
* Jim & Jesse
* Johnnie & Jack
* George Jones
* Grandpa Jones
* The Jordanaires
* Doug Kershaw
* Hal Ketchum
* Bradley Kincaid
* Pee Wee King
* Hank Locklin
* Lonzo and Oscar
* Bobby Lord
* The Louvin Brothers
* Charlie Louvin
* Ira Louvin
* Bob Luman
* Loretta Lynn
* Uncle Dave Macon
* Rose Maddox
* Mel McDaniel
* Jesse McReynolds
* McGee Brothers
* Bill Monroe
* George Morgan
* Moon Mullican
* Willie Nelson
* Jimmy C. Newman
* Bobby Osborne
* Sonny Osborne
* Johnny Paycheck
* Minnie Pearl
* Webb Pierce
* Ray Pillow
* Ray Price
* Charley Pride
* Del Reeves
* Jim Reeves
* Leon Rhodes
* Tex Ritter
* Marty Robbins
* Johnny Russell
* Rusty and Doug
* Earl Scruggs
* Jean Shepard
* Mississippi Slim
* Carl Smith
* Fiddlin' Arthur Smith
* Hank Snow
* Red Sovine
* Ralph Stanley
* Texas Ruby
* B. J. Thomas
* Uncle Jimmy Thompson
* Mel Tillis
* Tompall & the Glaser Brothers
* Ernest Tubb
* Justin Tubb
* Leroy Van Dyke
* Porter Wagoner
* Billy Walker
* Charlie Walker
* Kitty Wells
* Dottie West
* Keith Whitley†
* Slim Whitman
* The Wilburn Brothers
* Don Williams
* Hank Williams
* Boxcar Willie
* The Willis Brothers
* Chubby Wise
* Del Wood
* Marion Worth
* Johnnie Wright
* Tammy Wynette
* Faron Young

†Honorary former member; was scheduled to be invited, but died before the invitation was extended

Pending members|

* Steve Earle

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Italy
* Australia
* Czech Republic
* Spain
* Netherlands
* Norway
* Latvia
* Croatia
* Greece
* Korea
* Sweden
* Poland
* Israel
* Finland
* Catalonia
* Belgium

Academics|

* CiNii

Artists|

* MusicBrainz
* Grammy Awards
* FID

People|

* BMLO
* Trove
* Deutsche Biographie
* DDB

Other|

* IdRef
* NARA
* SNAC
* 2

*[m.]: married
*[div.]: divorced
*[c.]: circa
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