JOHNNY Cash is considered to be one of the greatest country singers of all time.
But even superstars can come from humble upbringings, just as Johnny did.
Where was Johnny Cash born?
Johnny Cash was born in Kingsland, Arkansas, on February 26, 1932, to Carrie Cloveree and Ray Cash.
His mom Carrie helped her son peruse music at a young age and even taught him guitar.
In 1935, when he was three years old, the family relocated to Dyess, Arkansas.
They set up a home at a New Deal colony established to allow poor families to work land that they may later own.
Sadly, Johnny died of complications from diabetes on September 12, 2003, four months after his wife’s passing.
He underwent various surgeries throughout his later life, such as on his jaw, heart, and knee after suffering from poor health.
Johnny was known to have struggled with alcohol and drug abuse at several different stages of his life.
The singer was diagnosed with automatic neuropathy in 1997, a condition that can come with diabetes.
Did Johnny Cash have any siblings?
Johnny had six brothers and sisters in total.
He had three older siblings, Jack, Roy, and Margaret Louise, and three younger ones, Tommy, Reba, and Joanne.
Tommy Cash is also a country music star, after following in the footsteps of Johnny.
Sadly, the Cash family suffered a tragedy when Johnny’s brother Jack was just 14 years old.
While cutting wood one Saturday, he was accidentally pulled into a table saw.
The saw mangled Jack’s body, almost cutting his body in two. He died a week after the terrible accident.
When was Johnny Cash discovered?
After military service, Johnny settled in Memphis, Tennessee, to pursue a musical career.
Performances with the Tennessee Two and at county fairs led to an audition with Sam Phillips of Sun Records, who signed Cash in 1955.
Songs like Cry, Cry, Cry, Hey, Porter, Folsom Prison Blues, and I Walk the Line brought him a lot of attention.
By 1957, Johnny was the top recording artist in the country and western field.
Another huge string to his bow came when on December 4, 1956, Elvis Presley dropped in on Sam Phillips while Carl Perkins was in the studio cutting new tracks, with Jerry Lee Lewis backing him on piano.
Johnny was also in the studio, and the four started an impromptu jam session.
Sam left the tapes running and the recordings, almost half of which were gospel songs, survived.
They have since been released under the title Million Dollar Quartet and even turned into a West End play.
In the book Cash: the Autobiography, Johnny wrote that he was the farthest from the microphone and sang in a higher pitch to blend in with Elvis.
