Johnny Cash 1961 Caricature

Johnny Cash 1961 Caricature, illustrated here at Columbia Studios while recording his album, “Hymns From The Heart”, Los Angeles, CA age 29 in June, 1961.

Cash was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 90 million records worldwide. 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.

Born to poor cotton farmers in Kingsland, Arkansas, Cash rose to fame in the prominent country music scene in Memphis, Tennessee, after four years in the Air Force. He was known for his deep, calm bass-baritone voice, the distinctive sound of his Tennessee Three backing band characterized by train-like chugging guitar rhythms, a rebelliousness coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor, free prison concerts, and a trademark all-black stage wardrobe which earned him the nickname “The Man in Black”. He traditionally began his concerts by simply introducing himself, “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash,” followed by “Folsom Prison Blues”, one of his signature songs.

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. The couple married on March 1, 1968, in Franklin, Kentucky. They had one child together, John Carter Cash, born March 3, 1970.

June remained with him even throughout his multiple admissions for rehabilitation treatment and decades of drug addiction. After June’s death in 2003, Cash believed that his only reason for living was his music. He died four months after her, at age 71.

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