How Johnny Cash Changed Music

Just outside Kingsland, Arkansas, February 26, 1932 J.R. Cash is born. His mom, Carrie Cloverie, wanted to name him John, and his dad, Ray Cash, wanted to name him Ray. Since they couldn't agree on a name, J.R. was a compromise. J.R. grew up a middle child. Quite literally in the middle, having three older siblings and three younger siblings. J.R. also grew up in extreme poverty during the Great Depression. His house didn't even have windows. His parents were cotton farmers, constantly struggling to make enough money to feed the family. They were Southern Baptists. J.R. would later become baptized, and would remain a Christian for the rest of his life. When J.R. was three years old, his family moved to a New Deal colony in northeast Arkansas called Dice, created to give those in poverty the opportunity to work land they hopefully would later own. Just before his fifth birthday, J.R. and his family had to flee their home after it flooded, which was part of the bigger 1937 Mississippi Flood. When he was as young as five years old, J.R. was out in the cotton fields working with his family. When he was working, he was often singing. When he wasn't working, he was listening to Irish folk and gospel songs on the radio. His mother helped him learn how to play the guitar. J.R. was really close with, and greatly admired, his older brother Jack. When J.R. was 12, Jack was nearly cut into two after being pulled into a table saw. He died a week later. Jack's death changed J.R. forever. Before his death, J.R. was a social, easygoing kid. Afterward, he became much more isolated and got really into sketching and writing. That's actually when he began writing stories, poems, and songs. Cash's oldest brother, Roy, was actually the first one in the family to try to make it in the music industry with his band the Dixie Rhythm Ramblers. They had modest local success, even touring and having a local radio show. This may have inspired J.R., who started entering more talent contests. He had already been publicly singing at both school and church since he was 5. While he was in high school, the local radio station let him sing on the air. Despite the rush he got while performing, he didn't pursue a music career after he graduated from Dice High School in May 1950. He knew that was a risky way to try to make a living, and instead got a job working at an automotive plant in Pontiac, Michigan. But, he didn't like that job, and perhaps was inspired by the recent American entry into the Korean War, deciding to enlist in the U.S. Air Force two months later. The Air Force required that J.R. had a first name, so that's when J.R. Cash became John Cash. John received basic training and technical training in San Antonio, Texas. It was there that he began dating Vivian Liberto. They first met at a roller rink in town. But just three weeks after meeting Vivian, the government sent John off to Landsberg Air Force Base in West Germany, where he would work as a Morse code operator intercepting Soviet military radio transmissions. He got pretty good at it. He was apparently the first American to hear the death of Joseph Stalin. It was in West Germany where John bought his first guitar. Soon, he had formed a band with fellow servicemen. If you're wondering where John got this scar, that was because of a botched surgery to remove a cyst from his face. The entire time he was stationed in Germany, over a period of nearly four years as a matter of fact, he and Vivian wrote thousands of letters to each other. On July 3, 1954, John got an honorable discharge from the Air Force, returning to Texas to be with Vivian. They married on August 7 at St. Anne's Roman Catholic Church in San Antonio. After the wedding, they honeymooned in Memphis, Tennessee, and decided to live there so that John could pursue a music career. During the day, John went door to door selling vacuum cleaners. At night, he took radio broadcasting classes. He had never stopped writing songs, and by this point had quite a few original ones that he wanted the world to hear. Through his aforementioned brother Roy, John met guitarist Luther Perkins, guitarist Red Kernodle, and bassist Marshall Grant, and the four of them formed a band to play his songs. The Memphis radio station KWEM hired them to perform once a week. Meanwhile, John repeatedly tried to audition for the producer Sam Phillips at Sun Records Studio, hoping to get a record contract. After Phillips finally let him audition in late 1954, he wasn't that impressed with John and his gospel songs, but John was determined. He got another audition with Phillips the next year, this time with his band. This time, John brought his original songs, which were dark to say the least. One of those songs was called Folsom Prism Blues, a song John had written while still stationed in West Germany, in which he sings I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. It was a mix of country, rockabilly, and even rock and roll in his distinct baritone. Of course, Phillips was impressed, to say the least, and agreed to record the band. During those first recording sessions, though, Kernodle bailed and they became a three-piece. They called themselves the Tennessee Three, but Phillips insisted they be called Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two. After that, John was pretty much Johnny to most people. Sun Records recorded a bunch of stuff with the band for the rest of 1955, with Phillips producing all of it. Meanwhile, Johnny and Vivian had their first child together, Roseanne, born on May 24, 1955. One day, she would be a musician herself. Johnny and Vivian would have three more daughters together, Kathy, Cindy, and Tara. On June 21, 1955, Sun Records released Johnny's debut single, Cry Cry Cry. It was a big success, selling more than 100,000 copies in the region. The song's success led to Johnny and his band hopping on the Louisiana Hayride tour, and soon after that they were touring with THE Elvis Presley, mostly in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas. It was around this time Johnny quit his day job and pursued music full-time. On December 15, 1955, Sun released Johnny's song So Doggone Lonesome, along with the aforementioned Folsom Prism Blues, at the same time. Both were even bigger hits, both reaching number four on the Billboard Country and Western sellers chart. In the summer of 1956, Johnny left the Louisiana Hayride tour to briefly perform with the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. But things started to get really crazy for Johnny after Sun released his song I Walk the Line on May 1, 1956. The song topped a lot of charts, including getting all the way up to number 17 on the Billboard Hop chart. It stayed on the charts for more than 43 weeks, eventually selling more than 2 million copies. The b-side for Walk the Line was Get Rhythm, which later was also a hit. His next single, There You Go, was also a big hit. Now, the whole country music world seemed to be paying attention to Johnny Cash. On December 4, 1956, Johnny was at Sun's studio when none other than Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins showed up. The four started a random jam session, and Phillips recorded it. They've since been released under the moniker Million Dollar Quartet. In 1957, Johnny's fame continued to grow. He and his band toured constantly all over the country. By now, his musician friends jokingly referred to him as The Undertaker, since he often wore black clothes. Johnny later explained he always wore black because they were easier to keep looking clean on long tours. Sun released two more hit singles in 1957, Next in Line and Home of the Blues. Based on this continued success, Sam Phillips decided to release something a bit more ambitious, a full album. Johnny's debut studio album was Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar, released by Sun on October 11, 1957. It featured several songs that had already been regularly played on the radio for now years at this point. Around this time, Johnny signed a huge record deal with Columbia Records, which would go into effect the following year. This was no surprise to Phillips, as Johnny was now the third best-selling country artist in the country. That said, Sun Records would continue to release Cash's backlog of recordings over the next few years, and it had four hit singles released in 1958 by him. Ballad of a Teenage Queen, Guess Things Happen That Way, The Ways of a Woman in Love, and It's Just About Time. Johnny's first single with Columbia was All Over Again, released in September 1958. Meanwhile, Johnny had started making more regular appearances on national television shows like The Jackie Gleason Show and The Dick Clark Show. Johnny and his band recorded what would become his second studio album, The Fabulous Johnny Cash, in the summer of 1958 at Bradley Fillman Recording Studio in Nashville. Now, Johnny had additional musicians helping him out to give his songs a fuller sound. Columbia released The Fabulous Johnny Cash on November 3, 1958, and it was a huge hit, selling more than half a million copies within weeks after its release. It featured two singles, Don't Take Your Guns to Town and Frankie's Man Johnny. Throughout 1958 and 1959, Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two continued to tour relentlessly. It was during this time that Johnny began drinking heavily and slowly became addicted to painkillers and amphetamines. Since he was always on the road, he was rarely at home with his young family, and this put a strain on his marriage with Vivian. Still, his music career thrived. On December 1, 1958, Sun released Johnny Cash Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous, which was actually a compilation album, and here's the thing. Since there are SO many Johnny Cash compilation albums out there, I won't be mentioning them from here on out. On February 8, 1959, Johnny gave a classic performance on The Ed Sullivan Show. In 1959 alone, Johnny had at least seven radio hits, including a Christmas song, his rendition of Little Drummer Boy. He even finally got to release a gospel album that year, Hymns by Johnny Cash, released by Columbia on March 2. That was his third studio album. It was also in 1959 that Johnny became more interested in pursuing movies and television, and felt that he and his family should move out to California to increase the chances of that happening. That summer, he moved Vivian, Roseanne, Kathy, and Cindy to Los Angeles. There, they bought a house from another celebrity named Johnny, Johnny Carson, the now-legendary television host. Soon after, Johnny made his acting debut with a brief appearance in the show Wagon Train. For the rest of his life, Johnny would regularly act in many TV shows and movies. On July 6, Columbia released Songs of Our Soil, Johnny's fourth studio album. This album was mostly about death, and even darker than his previous stuff. One standout track on it is Five Feet High and Rising, which he wrote based on going through the aforementioned 1937 Mississippi Flood that he and his family went through. In 1960, the drummer Fluke Holland started playing with Johnny Cash, so the Tennessee 2 became the Tennessee 3. For much of the 1960s, Cash struggled to find the same commercial success he got in the 1950s. On May 2, 1960, Columbia released Now There Was a Song, Johnny's fifth studio album. It featured the hit Seasons of My Heart. Columbia released his sixth studio album, Ride This Train, on August 1, 1960. This was Johnny's first concept album. Before each song, Johnny added context with spoken narration, often pretending he was different historical characters. While critics generally praised this album, it only had one notable radio hit, Going to Memphis. By 1961, Johnny's drug use had spiraled out of control, and this began to even take a toll on his career. That year, Johnny moved his family outside of Los Angeles to a house on a giant hill overlooking Casita Springs, California. Over the next two years, Cash was rarely home with Vivian and his four young children, who increasingly felt isolated on that hilltop. There were also plenty of rumors that Johnny had been unfaithful to his wife while on the road. Also by this time, Johnny had begun touring with the second generation of the Carter family, featuring the legendary Maybelle Carter and her daughters Helen, Anita, and June. Johnny became particularly infatuated with June. She was also married, though. Johnny would have a minor hit with the Carter family the next year called Busted. The next three releases all flopped and got mixed reviews. On April 2, 1962, Columbia released Hymns from the Heart, Johnny's seventh studio album and second gospel album. Next up was The Sound of Johnny Cash, his eighth studio album, released by Columbia on June 4, 1962. Columbia released Blood, Sweat & Tears, his ninth studio album, on January 7, 1963. However, Johnny would return to great commercial success for the rest of 1963. Merle Kilgore and the aforementioned June Carter wrote a song that would end up being one of Johnny's biggest hits ever- Ring of Fire. That said, it's debated whether or not June actually helped write the song. Regardless, Ring of Fire stayed at number one on the Billboard Country chart for seven straight weeks. Not only is the song one of his most recognizable hits, it's today considered one of the greatest country songs of all time. On November 11, 1963, Columbia released Johnny's first Christmas album and tenth studio album, The Christmas Spirit. Columbia followed up that with Keep on the Sunny Side, Johnny's recorded collaboration with the Carter family. By this time, Johnny was spending more and more time in New York City, getting caught up in the booming folk scene there. He became friends with the legendary Bob Dylan. In early 1964, Johnny scored another number one hit on the country chart with Understand Your Man. That song would appear on Johnny's eleventh studio album, I Walked the Line, released by Columbia on June 22, 1964. Meanwhile, Johnny had taken on one of his most ambitious projects yet- another concept album, this time focusing on the long history of the mistreatment of Native Americans in the United States. The result was his twelfth studio album, Bitter Tears, Ballads of the American Indian, released by Columbia on October 26, 1964. The most notable song of it is probably The Ballad of Ira Hayes, which had a quite heavy theme compared to most songs heard on the radio. Critics generally praised the album, but it commercially didn't do nearly as well as his last two albums, and this particularly upset Johnny, who even went as far as taking out a full-page ad in Billboard magazine calling out radio stations for not playing it. In late 1964, Johnny got to collaborate with Bob Dylan and others, of course, recording what would become his thirteenth studio album, Orange Blossom Special, released by Columbia on February 22, 1965. It was a commercial and critical success. Orange Blossom Special featured the hit It Ain't Me Babe, a duet with June Carter, who, by this time, Johnny was in love with. Despite the album's success, 1965 was a rough year for Johnny, arguably the roughest year of his life. He had continued to take more and more drugs as he toured nearly every day of the year. On May 11, police arrested him in Starkville, Mississippi for public drunkenness after he got caught in a local resident's garden picking flowers. He later wrote a song about the ordeal. In June, Johnny caused a fire in California's Los Padres National Forest after failing to control his campfire while under the influence of drugs. The fire ended up destroying more than 500 acres of forest and nearly caused his death. On October 5, 1965, the Grand Ole Band Johnny from ever playing there again after he smashed stage lights with a microphone stand. Shortly after this, he got arrested at the United States-Mexico border at El Paso after authorities found hundreds of amphetamines and sedatives hidden in his guitar case. Soon after this, Johnny and Vivian finally got divorced. He moved to Nashville and shared an apartment with Waylon Jennings, which didn't help his drug habits. Meanwhile, he kept pumping out albums. Columbia released his 14th studio album, a double album called Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West on August 2, 1965. That's quite a cover there. That's the one that first featured Johnny's version of Shel Silverstein's 25 Minutes to Go. Columbia released his 15th studio album, Everybody Loves a Nut on May 2, 1966, and Happiness Is You, his 16th studio album, on October 10, 1966. Despite Johnny's continuing addiction to various drugs, June remained close with him. They released an album of duets, as a matter of fact, called Carrying On with Johnny Cash and June Carter, released by Columbia on August 1, 1967. It featured the song Jackson, which would not only be a hit but also ended up winning a Grammy Award. June said she would marry Johnny if he stopped using drugs. But this happened only after a particularly dark time in his life. In the fall of 1967, he had become severely depressed, refusing to write or record new material. Instead, he would get drunk and drive into the woods. On November 2, he crashed his car while doing this near Lafayette, Georgia, stumbling out and reportedly walking around and knocking on random people's doors. Police arrested him after he tried to bribe them. However, this arrest was a turning point in Johnny's life. He mostly sobered up after it, and things got quite a bit better for him. On January 13, 1968, Johnny did something most country stars don't do. Heck, no country stars do. Heck, no musicians, period, do. He played a free concert at a prison. Famously, he played two shows at Folsom State Prison in California. Yep, the same prison he had written about in his song Folsom Prison Blues. Many people don't know that this was actually the second time he played there. These shows in particular breathed new life into Johnny. He was also able to do something that few care to do- humanize prisoners. Some of them, they're for horrible crimes. Two days after the Folsom shows, Columbia released Johnny's 17th studio album, From Sea to Shining Sea, another concept album of all original tunes. On February 22, Johnny proposed to June on stage at a show in London, Ontario, before an audience of 7,000 people. They married just a few days later, in Franklin, Kentucky, eventually having a child together, John, who himself also eventually became a musician. Fortunately for Johnny, the producer Bob Johnston had agreed to record his performances at Folsom State Prison, and it was good stuff. Columbia released several of those recordings in Johnny's first ever live album, At Folsom Prison, on May 6, 1968. It was a huge commercial and critical success. Today considered one of the greatest live albums of all time. To date, it remains the most successful Johnny Cash album ever released, not counting his compilations. Folsom Prison Blues, by the way, became an even bigger hit. On August 5, 1968, tragedy struck after Luther Perkins died from injuries sustained in a house fire. This devastated Johnny, but he was determined to play on to preserve Luther's legacy. While Carl Perkins took his place for a brief time, he couldn't make it to a show in Fayetteville, Arkansas on September 17, 1968, and one of his audience members, a lifelong Johnny Cash fan named Bob Wooten, asked Johnny if he could play guitar for him. Johnny agreed, and Bob killed it on stage, shocking everyone by playing all the songs perfectly. Days later, Johnny called Bob, asking him to join his band full time. On January 6, 1969, Columbia released Johnny's 18th studio album, The Holy Land. It was Johnny's third gospel album, and another concept album inspired by a trip he in June made to Israel. On February 24, Johnny returned to prison...for a show. He played another free concert, this time at San Quentin State Prison in California. It was all recorded as well. The first recordings without Luther and first with Bob. The songs made up what would become his second live album, Johnny Cash at San Quentin, released by Columbia on June 16, 1969. It featured the hit, A Boy Named Sue, another song written by Shel Silverstein. Columbia released Hello I'm Johnny Cash on January 26, 1970. It was his 19th studio album, and featured the hit song If I Were a Carpenter, a duet with June, as well as his first rendition of a Kris Kristofferson song. Another Kristofferson song, Sunday Morning Coming Down, became another number one hit for Johnny shortly after this. In 1970, Johnny was once again one of the biggest country music stars around. What helped with this was ABC giving Johnny a TV show, The Johnny Cash Show. Johnny hosted the music variety show from June 1969 to March 1971. They filmed it at Ryman Auditorium, the home of the Grand Ole Opry. Yep, Johnny's ban from performing at the venue had been reversed by that point. On April 17, 1970, Johnny, in June, performed at the White House for President Richard Nixon. Columbia released his third live album, The Johnny Cash Show, on October 19, 1970. It featured songs recorded at the Grand Ole Opry House for the aforementioned TV show. In November, Johnny provided most of the music for the soundtracks to two films, I Walk the Line and Little Foss and Big Halsey. Those were his 20th and 21st studio albums. By 1971, people commonly referred to Johnny as the Man in Black, and he fully embraced the nickname. On May 31, 1971, Columbia released his 22nd studio album, Man in Black, featuring the hit song of the same name. Man in Black was actually a protest song. That explained that he always wore black to protest the mistreatment of the poor and downtrodden. Johnny returned to the studio later that year to record what would become his 23rd studio album, A Thing Called Love, released by Columbia on April 3, 1972. That was followed by Johnny's 24th studio album, America, a 200-year salute in story and song, released by Columbia on August 7, 1972. In the early 1970s, Johnny became much more public about his Christian faith, and started hanging out with the evangelist Billy Graham. In 1972, he helped produce and even starred in a film called Gospel Wrote a Story of Jesus. They actually filmed it in Israel, and Johnny narrated the whole thing, also providing music of course. Columbia released Johnny's second Christmas album and 25th studio album, The Johnny Cash Family Christmas, on December 4, 1972. In January 1973, Columbia followed that up quickly with another live album, uh...that, which featured recordings from another free prison concert, this one being in Sweden. Yep, by this time, Johnny was touring the world. On January 15, Columbia released Johnny's 26th studio album, Any Old Wind That Blows. The album featured the song Oni, which hit number two on the country singles chart. Next out was the Gospel Road soundtrack to the aforementioned film, released on April 2. It was his 27th studio album. Soon after that, Johnny Cash and quote his woman, June, recorded what would become their next collaboration, Johnny Cash and His Woman, released by Columbia on September 3, 1973. Johnny returned to patriotic fames with his 28th studio album, Ragged Old Flag, released by Columbia on May 6, 1974. His 29th studio album, The Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me, which is one of the greatest album titles ever, I should add, was the first one to feature his daughter, Roseanne, as well as June's daughters, Johnny's stepdaughters, Rosie and Carlene. Columbia released The Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me on September 23, 1974. Next up was Johnny's 30th studio album, and his one and only kids' album, simply called The Johnny Cash Children's Album, released in January 1975. Yeah, you didn't know he had a kids' album, did ya? After that was his fifth Gospel album and 31st studio album, Johnny Cash Sings Precious Memories, released shortly after the kids' album. Then, a mostly covers album, his 32nd studio album, John R. Cash, released on April 28, 1975, followed by Look at Them Beans, his 33rd studio album, released on September 29, 1975. Look at Them Beans was surprisingly ambitious. Even though Johnny was now 43 at the time of its release, it was clear his hunger for pushing his creative limits was still unleashed. That said, the album, as well as the few albums released before it, were commercial flops. That doesn't mean his fans had abandoned him. As seen with the enormous success of the release of his autobiography, also called Man in Black, it quickly sold over a million copies. After that, his career seemed to bounce back yet again. The Johnny Cash Show briefly returned to ABC. He began touring outside of the United States more regularly. After releasing another live album, Strawberry Cake, in March 1976, he had another hit album with One Piece at a Time, his 34th studio album. Featuring the hits Sold Out of Flagpoles and the title track, Columbia released it on May 17, 1976. One Piece at a Time was followed by his 35th studio album, The Last Gunfighter Ballad, released in January 1977, The Rambler, his 36th studio album, released on June 27, 1977, and I Would Like to See You Again, his 37th studio album, released on April 10, 1978. That album featured the hit song There Ain't No Good Chain Gang, which Johnny recorded with Waylon Jennings, and it signaled a new sound for country music. Columbia released Johnny's 38th studio album, Gone Girl, on November 13, 1978. By that time, Johnny was back to regularly using amphetamines. He would be in and out of rehab for the next 13 years. Regardless, thanks to music and book royalties, plus decades of touring, he was a millionaire by this point. Instead of spending it all on himself, though, he often made a huge effort to give back, supporting causes such as mental health centers and humane societies all over the country. On August 13, 1979, Columbia released Silver to celebrate 25 years of Johnny recording music. It was his 39th studio album. While Silver got mixed reviews, the album was a commercial success, featuring the hits Ghost Riders in the Sky, Cocaine Blues, and Bull Rider. It definitely had a much different sound than Johnny's earlier recordings. Johnny followed up Silver with his 40th studio album, A Believer Sings the Truth, released by his own label, Caché, in December 1979. This was followed by his 41st studio album, Rockabilly Blues, released by Columbia on September 22, 1980. That year, Marshall Grant left the band, so Johnny reorganized it and renamed it The Great 80s Eight. Eventually, they were called just the Johnny Cash Showband. On October 13, 1980, Johnny became the youngest person ever inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He was just 48 at the time. And you would think that Johnny would slow down with releasing stuff after this, but he did not. First up was his 42nd studio album and 3rd Christmas album, Classic Christmas, released on November 3, 1980. That was followed by his 43rd studio album, The Baron, released on June 1, 1981. The Baron's title track was a pretty big hit. Next up was another live album called The Survivors. The Survivors was actually quite special because it featured a reunion show with Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. Christmas in 1981 sucked for Johnny and his family. While in Montego Bay, Jamaica at his second residence, burglars broke in and pointed guns at him and his family. They ended up stealing up to $50,000 worth of cash, jewelry, and shoes meant to be donated to an orphanage. Columbia released his 44th studio album, The Adventures of Johnny Cash, on September 6, 1982, followed by his 45th studio album, Johnny 99, released on August 29, 1983. Bruce Springsteen notably helped him with a couple songs on that one. Around the time of the release of Johnny 99, Johnny nearly died in Nottingham, England while on tour there. Doctors had to perform an emergency surgery on him after realizing he was suffering from internal bleeding. But it wasn't just that. Johnny had all kinds of health problems in the early 1980s. He broke several ribs, severely hurt his kneecap, and even had to have eye surgery at one point. How did he break those ribs, you might ask? By getting into a fight with an ostrich, of course. Yeah, he lost that fight. Columbia released another live album called, uh, That, in October 1983. In 1984, Johnny brought three other country music legends together to form a supergroup called the Highwaymen. Those three? Waylon Jennings and Chris Christopherson, as well as Willie Nelson. They got together and recorded an album called Highwayman, released by Columbia on May 6, 1985. It was a big hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Country Albums charts and selling over a million copies. The title track remains one of the biggest country songs of all time. The Highwaymen would release two more albums over the next ten years. Columbia released Johnny's 46th studio album, Rainbow, on October 28, 1985. It did not do nearly as well as Highwayman, and sadly Johnny wouldn't have much commercial success over the next ten years. In 1986, Johnny published his second book, Man in White, a novel which told the story of Paul the Apostle. It was also a big success, and surprised folks who didn't even know that Johnny could write so well. Johnny's next album was Heroes, another collaboration with Waylon Jennings, released by Columbia on May 19, 1986. He also collaborated again with Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis, as well as Roy Orbison, for an album called Class of 55, Memphis Rock and Roll Homecoming, released just a week after that. Around this time, Columbia Records dropped Cash. That said, he had already recorded another gospel album, and Word Records agreed to release it on July 21, 1986. That one was called Believe in Him, and it was his 47th studio album. Soon, he signed a deal with Mercury Records, recording four albums with them over the next five years. Johnny Cash is Coming to Town, his 48th studio album, which came out on April 13, 1987, Water from the Wells of Home, his 49th studio album, which came out on October 10, 1988, Boom Chicka Boom, his 50th studio album, which came out on January 22, 1990, and The Mystery Life, his 51st studio album, released on February 19, 1991. None of those albums had any major hits. Meanwhile, Johnny's legendary status still grew, as he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1989 and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. On September 20, 1991, Delta Records released his fourth Christmas album and 52nd studio album, Country Christmas. In 1993, the now 61-year-old Johnny Cash surprised folks everywhere when he signed a contract with the well-known rap producer Rick Rubin and his record label American Recordings. He also dropped his longtime band and returned to his stripped-down roots, almost as if it had come full circle. With Rubin's help, Johnny recorded a bunch of new stuff in both Rubin's Los Angeles home and his own cabin in Tennessee. The results of these recordings ended up comprising what would become his 53rd studio album, American Recordings, released by American on April 26, 1994. Though it had no major hits on it, critics adored this new stuff, and it rejuvenated Johnny once more. American released Johnny's 54th studio album and second album in what became known as his American Recording series, Unchained, on November 5, 1995. This one featured a full backing band, specifically Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It also featured more cover songs, some rather unexpected ones actually, like Soundgarden's Rusty Cage, which ended up being a minor hit for Johnny. He even got nominated for a Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for that song, and Unchained received a Grammy for Best Country Album. Despite the fact that Johnny's health was deteriorating, his popularity suddenly was rising again, with a brand new generation discovering him. In 1997, he published a new version of his autobiography. That same year, he announced to the world that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and therefore could no longer tour. Doctors later discovered it was autonomic neuropathy causing his physical ailments. In 2000, Johnny recorded a third album for his American Recording series. This one also featured mostly covers, and you could definitely hear in Johnny's vocals that he couldn't sing like he used to. His health had definitely taken a toll on him, and you could often hear the pain in his voice. Still, American III, Solitary Man, his 55th studio album, released by American on October 17, 2000, was also adored by critics. One of Johnny's best albums of his entire career was the last one to come out when he was alive. American IV, The Man Comes Around, his 56th studio album. American released It on November 5, 2002. This one got even more love from critics, and was also a huge commercial success. For the first time, Johnny Cash was regularly being played on alternative rock stations, with his covers of Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus and Nine Inch Nails' Hurt. Many people argue that his version of Hurt is way better than the original version, and to date it's his most popular song with the young folks, with far more streams on Spotify than any of his other songs. The music video for Hurt was also a hit, being nominated for Video of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards. On May 15, 2003, Johnny's beloved wife June died of complications after heart surgery. Just a few months later, on September 12, 2003, Johnny died from complications related to diabetes. He was 71. In 2010, Cash was inducted into the Gospel Hall of Fame. At least 55 Johnny Cash compilation albums have been released since his death, and two additional albums in his American Recording Series. Today, Johnny Cash is considered to be not just one of the greatest country singer-songwriters of all time, but one of the best singer-songwriters of all time. Period. He's also one of the best selling musicians of all time, selling more than 90 million records worldwide. He performed at least 1,500 songs in his career. Hundreds of those songs he wrote himself. According to my calculations, he released at least 97 albums. Now you can see why I didn't list them all. Much of his music was about hardship, about the trials and tribulations that everyday folks go through. Despite the dark and sad themes of many of his songs, people often forget that he also knew how to be silly. Some of his biggest songs are quite lighthearted and make you smile. Thanks to his backing bands over the decades, Johnny developed an incredibly unique sound that combined multiple genres, including but not limited to country, gospel, folk, blues, rockabilly, and even rock and roll. Despite being a crossover artist, he particularly helped bring country music into the mainstream. He was, after all, a big reason why I first got into country. There's a reason why we often first recall those free prison concerts when we think of Johnny Cash today. That's because his biggest appeal came from the fact that he never stopped being a champion for the downtrodden, for the forgotten in society. He was one of us. If you get a chance, check out the movie Walk the Line, the biopic about Cash that came out in 2005. It was pretty, pretty good, in my opinion. Well, so that video was not so brief, was it? Anyway, my favorite songs by Johnny are Folsom Prism Blues and Man in Black. What are yours? What about your favorite albums? Also, which artists should I cover next for this series? Let me know down below. And finally, I started a Patreon. Check it out in the description. And thank you for watching!