Johnny Cash Short Biography

Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame, and Memphis Music Hall of Fame; one singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and author comes to mind when thinking of the largest contributions to music in the 20th century. Primarily remembered as a country music icon, Johnny Cash spanned many genres in his decades long career, including rock and roll, rockabilly, blues, folk, and gospel. His deep, baritone voice is well known the world over. His rebelliousness as well as his image as "The Man in Black" is recognized as instantly as the stars and stripes themselves. John "J.R." Cash, was born on February 26, 1932 in the town of Kingsland, Arkansas. He was born to southern Baptist sharecroppers Ray Cash and Carrie Rivers Cash. John grew up in Dyess Colony, Arkansas, where at age four he worked as a water boy in the cotton fields. Throughout his childhood, he was surrounded by music, whether it was in the fields, at church, or playing on the radio live from the Grand Ole Opry ("Johnny Cash Biography"). At age 12, J.R. began playing the guitar and writing songs. While in high school, he regularly performed on local radio station KLCN in Blytheville, Arkansas (Simon et al., 2001). After

A few weeks later on March 3, John Carter Cash, Johnny and June's only child, was born (Wikipedia). In 1971, Johnny and June traveled to Israel to film a documentary about contemporary life in the Holy Land, Gospel Road (Johnny Cash Online). During the rest of the seventies, Johnny continued to tour and make music, but also began to be active in benefit work. Johnny was particularly invested in rights of prisoners, Native American rights, and the work of evangelist Billy Graham's organization (Simon et al., 2001). In 1977, Johnny received the special Award of Merit at the American Music Awards (Johnny Cash