At one point, just about every American can recall being lulled by Johnny Cash’s soulful voice while listening to iconic hits like ‘I Walk The Line,’ ‘A Boy Named Sue’ and ‘Sunday Morning Coming Down.’ His soothing voice and rhythmic voice was applied to a number of genres — blues, rock and roll, folk, outlaw country, gospel — and his discrography proved this versatility. Johnny gave the world a total of 93 albums! He has been up for 35 Grammy nominations, and won a whopping 13 Grammy Awards.
Johnny was born in 1932 in Arkansas, right amid the Great Depression. He served as a radio intercept operator for the United States Air Force, and after stints as an automobile worker and door-to-door salesman, he made his debut in the music industry with the Memphis-based Sun Records in 1955. He soon skyrocketed to fame, and continued a successful career in music until passing away due to his health problems from diabetes in 2003.
Johnny married Vivian Liberto in 1954, but she filed for divorce in 1966 after suspecting he was cheating with country singer June Carter. He went on to marry June in 1968, and they stayed together until Johnny’s passing. Johnny is survived by five children from his two marriages: Rosanne, John, Tara, Cindy and Kathy.
Here, Johnny Cash dazzles a crowd in 1978. He was dressed to the nines.
Take a look at Johnny Cash’s life in photos here.
