From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia John R Johnny Cash born J R Cash February 26 1932 September 12 2003 was an American singersongwriter actor and author who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century Although he is primarily remembered as a country music artist his songs and sound spanned many other genres including rockabilly and rock and rollespecially early in his careeras well as blues folk and gospel This crossover appeal led to Cash being inducted in both the Country Music Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Late in his career Cash covered songs by several rock artists among them the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails and he covered the synthpop band Depeche Modes Personal Jesus Cash was known for his deep distinctive bassbaritone voice for the boomchickaboom freight train sound of his Tennessee Three backing band for his rebelliousness coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor for providing free concerts inside prison walls and for his dark performance clothing which earned him the nickname The Man in Black He traditionally started his concerts by saying Hello Im Johnny Cash and usually following it up with his standard Folsom Prison Blues Much of Cashs music especially that of his later career echoed themes of sorrow moral tribulation and redemption His signature songs include I Walk the Line Folsom Prison Blues Ring of Fire Get Rhythm and Man in Black He also recorded humorous numbers including One Piece at a Time and A Boy Named Sue a duet with his future wife June Carter called Jackson as well as railroad songs including Hey Porter and Rock Island Line Cash a devout but troubled Christian has been characterized as a lens through which to view American contradictions and challenges A Biblical scholar he penned a Christian novel titled Man in White and he made a spoken word recording of the entire New King James Version of the New Testament Even so Cash declared that he was the biggest sinner of them all and viewed himself overall as a complicated and contradictory man Accordingly Cash is said to have contained multitudes and has been deemed the philosopherprince of American country music Description above from the Wikipedia article Johnny Cash licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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