Today we remember the passing of Johnny Cash who Died: September 12, 2003 in Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital - Nashville, Tennessee
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer, songwriter, musician, actor, and author. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 90 million records worldwide. His genre-spanning songs and sound embraced country, rock and roll, rockabilly, blues, folk, and gospel. 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.
Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his career. Alongside "Folsom Prison Blues", 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 their wedding), and railroad songs such as "Hey, Porter", "Orange Blossom Special", and "Rock Island Line".
During the last stage of his career, he covered songs by contemporary rock artists of the time; his most notable covers were "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails, "Rusty Cage" by Soundgarden, and "Personal Jesus" by Depeche Mode.
Before her death on May 15, 2003 at age 73, 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 we did." 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.
While being hospitalized at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Cash died of complications from diabetes around 2:00 am CT on September 12, 2003, aged 71—less than four months after his wife. He was buried next to her in Hendersonville Memory Gardens near his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
