Cash was given the name "J.R." because his parents could not agree on a name, only on initials, but the United States Air Force would not accept initials so he adopted John R. Cash as his legal name. In 1955, when signing with Sun Records, he took Johnny Cash as his stage name. His friends and in-laws generally called him John, while his blood relatives usually continued to call him J.R.
Cash was one of seven children. By the age of five, J.R. was working in the cotton fields, singing along with his family as they worked. The family farm was flooded on at least one occasion, which later inspired him to write the song "Five Feet High and Rising." His family's economic and personal struggles during the Depression inspired many of his songs, especially those about other people facing similar difficulties.
Cash's early memories were dominated by gospel music and radio. Taught by his mother and a childhood friend, Johnny began playing guitar and writing songs as a young boy. In high school he sang on a local radio station, but it was decades later that he finally released an album of traditional gospel songs called "My Mother's Hymn Book."
Although Cash carefully cultivated a romantic outlaw image, he never served a prison sentence. Despite landing in jail seven times for misdemeanors, each stay lasted only a single night. His most infamous run-in with the law occurred while on tour in 1965, when he was arrested by a narcotics squad in El Paso, Texas. The officers suspected that he was smuggling heroin from Mexico, but it was prescription narcotics and amphetamines that the singer had hidden inside his guitar case. Because they were prescription drugs rather than illegal narcotics, he received a suspended sentence.
Cash felt great compassion for prisoners which led to performing concerts at various prisons starting in the late 1960s. These performances led to a pair of highly successful live albums, "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison" in 1968 "and Johnny Cash at San Quentin" released in 1969.
Also in 1965 he had a different kind of brush with authorities. His truck caught fire due to an overheated wheel bearing, triggering a forest fire that burned several hundred acres in Los Padres National Forest in California. 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." The fire wound up burning 508 acres, including three mountaintops and killing 49 of the refuge's 53 endangered condors. Cash unrepentantly exclaimed, "I don't care about your damn yellow buzzards." The federal government sued him and was awarded $125,172. Johnny eventually settled the case and paid $82,001. Cash said he was the only person ever sued by the government for starting a forest fire.
On July 18, 1951, while in Air Force training, Cash met 17 year-old Vivian Liberto at a roller skating rink in her native San Antonio. They dated for three weeks until Cash was deployed to Germany for a three year tour. During that time, the couple exchanged hundreds of pages of love letters. On August 7, 1954, one month after his discharge, they were married in San Antonio. They had four daughters, but Cash's addictions to amphetamines and barbiturates as well as his alcohol abuse, constant touring, and affairs with other women -- including future wife June Carter -- led Vivian to file for divorce in 1966.
In 1968, 12 years after they first met backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, Cash proposed to June Carter, an established country singer, during a live performance in London, Ontario, marrying on March 1, 1968 in Franklin, Kentucky. He had proposed numerous times, but she had always refused. They had one child together, John Carter Cash (born March 3, 1970).
They continued to work together and tour for thirty-five years, until June Carter died in 2003. Cash, heartbroken, died just four months later. June co-wrote one of his biggest hits, "Ring of Fire," and they won two Grammy awards for their duets. In 1986, Johnny published his only novel, Man in White, a book about Saul and his conversion to become the Apostle Paul. He also recorded "Johnny Cash Reads The Complete New Testament" in 1990.
Cash quit using drugs in 1968 following a spiritual epiphany in the Nickajack Cave, where he attempted to commit suicide while under the heavy influence of drugs. He continued deeper into the cave, trying to lose himself and "just die," when he passed out on the floor. He states he was exhausted and feeling at the end of his rope and then felt God's presence in his heart and managed to struggle out of the cave despite his exhaustion by following a faint light and slight breeze. To him, it was his own rebirth.
In the mid 1970s, Cash's popularity and number of hit songs began to decline, but his two autobiographies, Man in Black, published in 1975 sold 1.3 million copies, and Cash: The Autobiography, was published in 1997. His friendship with Billy Graham led to the production of a film about the life of Jesus entitled "The Gospel Road," which Cash co-wrote and narrated.
The decade saw his religious conviction deepening and he made many evangelical appearances with Billy Graham around the world. He waged a life-long struggle for salvation and that spiritual odyssey is the subject of a music documentary, "The Gospel Music of Johnny Cash." As part of the Billy Graham Crusades, Cash related to the crowds how he'd tried drugs and alcohol, but it was only his religion that brought him peace of mind and peace with God. And he gave full credit to his wife, June, for bringing him closer to God.
During a hospital visit to Waylon Jennings in 1988, who was recovering from a heart attack, Jennings suggested that Cash have himself checked into the hospital for his own heart condition. He agreed, 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 after surgery, fearing a relapse into drug dependency. He later claimed that he had had a "near death experience" during his operation, seeing visions of Heaven that were so beautiful that he was angry when he woke up alive.
In total, Cash wrote over a thousand songs and released dozens of albums. His diversity was evidenced by his presence in three major music halls of fame: the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (1977), the Country Music Hall of Fame (1980), and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1992). Only thirteen performers are in both of the last two, and only Hank Williams Sr., Jimmie Rodgers, and Bill Monroe share the honor with Cash of being in all three. However, only Cash was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the regular manner, unlike the other country members, who were inducted as "early influences." Cash stated that his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame was his greatest professional achievement. His pioneering contribution to the genre has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and in 2007 he was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1996. He was nominated for best cinematography for "Hurt" and was supposed to appear, but died during the night.
Johnny and June, on their special "Gospel Show," recount their trip to Israel, singing together "The Nazarene," "He Turned the Water into Wine,""Come to the Wailing Wall," and "God is Not Dead."
"Why Me, Lord" is sung as if it represents his own life...
Johnny Cash sings "A Thanksgiving Prayer" on an episode of the television show, "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman:"
Emmylou Harris joins Johnny Cash in singing "Where the Soul of Men Never Dies" and "Shine on Harvest moon" with Marty Stuart accompanying on Mandolin...
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