The Man In Black, Johnny Cash, Uncovered in these Little Known Facts

29. He Was Distantly Related to Scottish Royalty

The Cash family was mostly of English and Scottish descent. Later in his life, Johnny did some genealogical research and found that his family had roots in the nobility of the Scottish Kingdom of Fife. He was also distantly related to Scotland’s first king, King Duff.

28. Cash Grew Up During the Great Depression

Johnny spent much of his childhood working out in the fields of Arkansas during the Great Depression. His family benefited from some of the New Deal programs implemented by Franklin Roosevelt, which helped lift them out of poverty and ease their debts. Music provided an escape from many of the hardships of the Great Depression.

27. He Started Smoking When He Was 12

That same year, his older brother, Jack, passed away following a horrific accident in which he was pulled into a table saw that lacked a safety guard. The two brothers were very close, and decades later, Johnny would speak fondly of his brother and his desire to see him in heaven.

26. Johnny Cash Began Performing in High School

He began writing and playing his own songs – many of which were inspired by his time in the fields – after his mother taught him how to play the guitar. His voice began changing from a pre-pubescent tenor to the deep baritone that came to define his musical style.

25. Cash Joined the Air Force in 1950

The military gave many young Americans the chance to escape the poverty that plagued them during the Great Depression. Cash joined in 1950, as the Cold War was setting in. He spent much of his military time in Texas and in Germany, where he intercepted Soviet messages.

24. His Iconic Facial Scar Was From a Botched Surgical Procedure

While in the military, he underwent a surgical procedure to have a cyst removed from his face. The surgeon was drunk during the operation and ruined it, leaving Johnny with the distinctive facial scar on the right side of his jaw.

23. Johnny Cash Married His First Wife in 1954

While training for the Air Force in San Antonio, Cash met Vivian Liberto, a 17-year-old girl that he dated for three weeks before being deployed. While in Germany, the two exchanged hundreds of love letters. They were married in 1954, immediately following his discharge, and had four daughters together.

22. His Drug Abuse Led to Divorce

Vivian filed for divorce in 1966, citing as the reasons Johnny’s drug and alcohol abuse, regular tours, run-ins with the law, and extramarital affairs, particularly his relationship with June Carter. Vivian took custody of their four daughters and raised them herself. He never did mend his ways.

21. Cash Was Afraid of Flying

Johnny had several phobias, including a fear of flying and a fear of snakes. As a result, he traveled on the road when he was on tour rather than by air. During his first two years on tour, the singer clocked over 100,000 miles on the way. He was also afraid of snakes.

20. Johnny Cash Met June Carter in 1955

The two met backstage in Memphis, Tennessee, at the Grand Ole Opry. The two developed a close relationship, even though Johnny was already married. He proposed publicly during a concert in London, Ontario in 1968; they married a few weeks later, in March of 1968.

19. June Carter Was a Cousin of Jimmy Carter

She was distantly related to the Southern Baptist preacher who would be elected president in 1976, placing both her and her husband in prestigious circles. She may have also been related to Elvis Presley, who did a bit of singing and dancing himself.

18. Cash Was Addicted to Drugs and Alcohol

Johnny’s lifelong addictions to drugs and alcohol began in the 1950s, at the same time that his career was taking off. As such, he cultivated a “bad boy,” outlaw image that he would never be able to dispense of, despite his gospel records and induction to the Gospel Hall of Fame.

17. He Was an Avid Collector

His favorite things to collect were antique books and guns from the nineteenth century. Other quirks of his included carrying a tub of instant coffee with him everywhere he went. Whenever he ordered coffee at a restaurant, he spooned instant coffee into the cup to make it stronger.

16. Johnny Cash Was an Activist for Native American Rights

In 1957, he wrote a song called “Old Apache Squaw.” Columbia Records, to which he was currently signed, didn’t want to release it because they felt that it was “too radical for the public.” Despite his cowboy image, he continually wrote and sang songs advocating for Native American rights against settler violence.

15. Cash Lived Next Door to Roy Orbison For 20 Years

The two singer-songwriters were neighbors while Cash lived in Nashville. They frequently collaborated, as they both sang sad, emotional songs in their iconic country, rockabilly styles. Shortly before his death in 1988, Orbison told Cash that he was experiencing chest pains. Cash encouraged him to seek medical treatment, but he never did.

14. Johnny Cash Befriended Ozzy Osborne in Rehab

Despite Cash’s growing success – he became the youngest living inductee to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980 – his drug and alcohol abuse plagued his career. He checked himself into numerous rehabs. During the 1980s, he and Ozzy Osborne were both at a Betty Ford Clinic and became friends.

13. Muhammad Ali Wrote a Poem For Him

The poem was entitled “Truth.” Cash kept the original version locked away in a vault. The poem inspired Cash’s song by the same name. Some of the lines were,

Truth has neither fear nor doubt
Truth has patience to wait
The words of truth are touching
The voice of truth is deep
The law of truth is simple
All you sow, you reap

12. Cash Always Performed in His Signature Black Attire

At his first public performance, Johnny wore black jeans with a black shirt. The show was a hit, so he adapted the iconic black attire as a good-luck charm. Following his initial success, he never appeared in a public performance without wearing black.

11. Johnny Cash Was One of The Highwaymen

During the 1980s, despite his induction to the Country Music Hall of Fame, Cash’s record sales were lagging. He joined forces with the singers Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings to form The Highwaymen. They made three albums together between 1985 and 1995.

10. He Also Appeared in Television Shows

In 1981, he appeared as a guest on The Muppet Show. He starred in the television film The Pride of Jesse Hallam, which drew attention to adult illiteracy. He also appeared beside Andy Griffith and June Carter Cash in the television movie Murder in Coweta County.

9. An Ostrich Kicked Him in 1983

Cash kept a farm, on which lived an ostrich. In 1983, the ostrich kicked him in the abdomen, causing him to be hospitalized. He had tried to kick his drug addiction, but during his hospitalization, he fell back into the habit as a result of the painkillers that he was on.

8. Cash Worked on Three Record Labels

He began recording with Sam Phillips in 1954 but moved on to Columbia Records in 1958, partly because Phillips didn’t want him to record gospel, partly because of the lucrative deal that Columbia offered him. He left Columbia three decades later and joined up with Mercury Recordings, where he had a brief but unsuccessful stint. He moved on to American Recordings.

7. He Wrote a Self-Parody Autobiography

In 1975, he wrote an autobiography called The Man in Black. Ten years later, he parodied that with a counterpart called Chicken in Black. In the story, his brain was implanted into a chicken; in return, he was given the mind of a bank robber.

6. Johnny Cash Had a Neurodegenerative Disease

In 1997, doctors misdiagnosed Cash with Parkinson’s. The diagnosis was changed to a form of multiple-system atrophy called Shy-Drager syndrome, and he was given 18 months to live. The diagnosis was changed again to autonomic neuropathy, a degenerative illness associated with his diabetes. After he collapsed on stage during a concert, he had to stop touring so much.

5. Nevertheless, Cash Continued Recording

Following his diagnosis, he released several more albums in his American series, including American III: Solitary Man and American IV: The Man Comes Around. During the last four months of his life, he wrote as many as 60 new songs. His final concert was in July 2003.

4. June Died in May 2003

At the age of 73, the iconic singer and wife of Johnny died following complications that resulted from heart-valve replacement surgery. At Johnny’s final concert two months later, he read a moving tribute and confessed that he loved her forever and with all of his heart.

3. Johnny Died a Few Months Later

Johnny had suffered from poor health for the past few years, probably exacerbated by his lifelong addictions to drugs and alcohol. Complications from diabetes ultimately took his life. Those closest to him suspect that his broken heart over the loss of June played a part in his demise.

2. Rolling Stone Magazine Honored Him the Next Year

In 2004, Rolling Stone came out with its list of “100 Greatest Artists of All Time” to honor all-around greats in the music industry. Johnny Cash came in at number 31. Also on the list were Diana Ross, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Beatles, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and Jimi Hendrix.

1. Johnny Cash Was Posthumously Inducted to the Gospel Music Hall of Fame

Born into a Southern Baptist family, Johnny spent his entire life professing his Christian faith. Although his life was deeply troubled and marred by divorce, affairs, legal problems, drugs, alcohol, and other woes, in 2010, he was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.

Where Did We Find This Stuff? Here Are Our Sources:

“Johnny Cash.” IMDb.

“78 Things You Didn’t Know About Johnny Cash.” Flavorwire.

“Johnny Cash – Truth,” by Johnny Cash. Lyrics Translate.

Biography – Johnny Cash: 10 Things You Might Not Know About the Country Icon

Taste of Country – Johnny Cash: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About the Music Legend

Rollingstone – Johnny Cash’s First Wife Profiled in New Doc ‘My Darling Vivian’: What We Learned

Texas Standard – Johnny Cash’s First Wife Was Vivian Liberto. A Documentary Finally Tells Her Story

Insider Hook – The True Story of Johnny Cash’s Largely Forgotten First Marriage

Country Rebel – ‘Drugs and June Carter’ – Johnny Cash’s First Wife Explains What Ruined Their Marriage

Town & Country Magazine – The Love Story of Johnny Cash and June Carter

Cheatsheet – Elvis Presley Played a Special Role in Johnny Cash and June Carter’s Love Story

The Culture Trip – The Good, The Bad, And the Real Johnny Cash

Baptist Press – Though Drugs & Alcohol Had Plagued Him, Johnny Cash Was Steadied by His Faith

ACLU – ‘Where Are Your Guts?’: Johnny Cash’s Little-Known Fight for Native Americans

Far Out Magazine – Johnny Cash Explains Why He’s The ‘Man In Black’, 1971

Spinditty – The Health Decline and Death of Johnny Cash

Rolling Stone – Johnny Cash Won’t Back Down