| Learn A Little About - Johnny Cash - American singer-songwriter, actor, and author John R. "Johnny" Cash (born J. R. Cash in Arkansas; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) . Cash was given the name "J.R." because his parents could not agree on a name, only on initials. Cash Who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Known primarily as a country music artist, his songs and sound spanned many other genres including rockabilly and rock and roll—especially early in his career—as well as blues, folk, and gospel. Much of Cash's music, especially that of his later career, echoed themes of sorrow, moral tribulation and redemption. His family's economic and personal struggles during the Great Depression inspired many of his songs, especially those about other people facing similar difficulties. As his career was taking off in the late 1950s, Cash started drinking heavily and became addicted to amphetamines and barbiturates, in which he used the uppers to stay awake during tours. Although Cash carefully cultivated a romantic outlaw image, he never served a prison sentence. Despite landing in jail seven times for misdemeanors, each stay lasted only a single night. Cash curtailed his use of drugs for several years in 1968, after a spiritual epiphany in the Nickajack Cave, when he attempted to commit suicide while under the heavy influence of drugs. He descended deeper into the cave, trying to lose himself and "just die". Although he would struggle with addiction through the rest of his life with several relapses. By the early 1970s, he had crystallized his public image as "The Man in Black". He regularly performed dressed all in black, wearing a long black knee-length coat. This outfit stood in contrast to the costumes worn by most of the major country acts in his day. He wore black on behalf of the poor and hungry, on behalf of "the prisoner who has long paid for his crime",and on behalf of those who have been betrayed by age or drugs. "And," Cash added, "with the Vietnam War as painful in my mind as it was in most other Americans', I wore it 'in mournin' for the lives that could have been. In 1997, Cash was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease Shy-Drager syndrome, a form of Parkinson's disease. The diagnosis was later altered to autonomic neuropathy associated with diabetes. This illness forced Cash to curtail his touring. Cash died of complications from diabetes less than four months after his wife, at 2:00 am CT on September 12, 2003, while hospitalized at Baptist Hospital in Nashville. He was buried next to his wife in Hendersonville Memory Gardens near his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Upon his death, Cash was revered by the greatest popular musicians of his time. His rebellious image and often anti-authoritarian stance influenced punk rock. In total, he wrote over 1,000 songs and released dozens of albums. |
