Johnny Cash (26 February 1932 - 12 September 2003) was an American country singer, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and author. He became known worldwide as The Man in Black and stood out for his deep baritone voice. He was married to Vivian Liberto from 1954 to 1966 and from 1968 until her death to June Carter Cash, who passed away on 15 May 2003. Johnny Cash died a few months later at the age of 71 in Baptist Hospital in Nashville from complications of diabetes. He was one of the most influential singers, both within and outside the country genre. Johnny Cash was ranked 21st on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest artists of all time.
At the age of twelve, Cash wrote his first songs, inspired by the country music he heard on the radio. During his military service in West Germany, he bought his first guitar. After his service, he married Vivian Liberto and moved to Memphis (Tennessee), where he took a course to become a disc jockey. In the evenings, he played in a trio with guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant. In November 1957, his first LP, Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar, was released, making him the first artist at Sun to have his own album. Johnny Cash also wanted to release a gospel album, but Sun rejected his requests. Partly for this reason, and due to a dispute over royalties, Cash moved to Columbia Records in 1958. Sun continued to release previously unreleased Cash material into the 1960s.
Typical of Cash (besides the dark baritone voice) are the black suits, which gave him a unique identity, especially from the glamorous seventies onwards. This is the period in which alternative country (Twang) emerged as a counter-movement with pioneers like Gram Parsons, who in turn inspired the hippie movement with flamboyant suits. In 1971, Cash sings about the reason for his dark suits in the song Man in Black. All these suits (called Nudie suits) were designed by cult fashion designers Nudie Cohn and his son-in-law Manuel Cuevas.
Cash has had a great influence on the music of artists and bands such as U2, Bob Dylan and Nick Cave.
In his career, Cash released around 100 albums! Below you will find a small selection of these and the albums that are in the Top 2000.
Source: Wikipedia Photo: public domain
