Born:
February 26, 1932
in
Kingland, Arkansas
Quote:
"My biggest selling albums have always been the prison albums. I think there's a little bit of a criminal in all of us."
Trivia:
He recorded 60 songs in the last four months of his life.
Best Known For:
Being a Country music legend.
Early-life:
Born on February 26, 1932 in Kingland, Arkansas. His family were poor Southern Baptists and as a child he would often pick cotton for 12 hours a day. At the age of 10, Cash was devastated when his beloved older brother Jack died by falling onto a chainsaw. Two years later, Johnny began playing the guitar and writing songs, often performing on a local radio station. Moved to Detroit in his late teens before joining the Air Force, which led to him being stationed in Germany as a radio operator. In 1954, he left the military and moved to Memphis.
Career:
In 1955, he began recording for the Sun record label, and the following year released the million-selling single I Walk the Line. In 1958, he moved to Columbia Records, and although he continued to score hits, he would be dogged by drug and alcohol abuse for the next decade. In the late 1960s, he released two hugely successful live albums recorded in jails - Folsom Prison and San Quentin - and was given his own TV show. He branched into acting, but his music career appeared to be on the wane in the 1980s, until he teamed up with producer Rick Rubin for the acclaimed album American Recordings in 1994. He died on September 12, 2003.