Born J.R. Cash Johnny was the an American Rock and Roll and Country Music singer and songwriter.  He was known as the  “Man in Black”.  

He sold over 50 million albums in his 50 year music career and is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential musicians in American popular music.  His songs often emphasized redemption, sorrow and tribulation.  His most famous concert is the one recorded live at Folsom Prison which is popular still today.

Johnny struggled with drug and alcohol addiction in the 1960’s but by the early 1970’s had managed to control it.  He went on to have a successful television show, record dozens of hits and hundreds of albums, and to perform at the White House for the first time in 1972.

In 1980 he became the Country Music Hall of Fame’s youngest living inductee at the age of 48.  He was diagnosed with diabetes, and died of complications following heart valve replacement surgery.