Man in Black 1932-2003
Country legend Johnny Cash, died early in the morning on Friday 12th September in Nashville, aged 71. He was nicknamed The Man In Black because he rarely appeared in public in any other colour.
Cash had not toured since 1993, but he was still active in the studio, earning his eleventh Grammy this year for Give My Love To Rose. He has been enjoying a resurgence of popularity over the last decade among younger fans, he was nominated for seven MTV Music awards last month, though illness prevented him attending.
Bono once described him as "a character of truly Biblical proportions, with a voice, all wailing freight trains and thundering prairies, like the landscape of his beloved America. He has a soul as big as a continent, full of righteous anger mixed with human compassion."
Cash always claimed to be embarrassed by the praise and adoration of his peers. He did, however, concede that his music "covers a lot of territory", and so did he.
From a childhood picking cotton in the hard-luck towns of the American south, he embarked upon a raucous career marked by drug addictions and trashed hotel rooms, gaining international superstardom with hit songs including I Walk The Line and Ring of Fire.
He was a cultural icon, credited with bridging the worlds of rock and country, reinvesting American popular music with political engagement and raw emotional honesty.
Useful links
johnnycash.com
maninblack.net
toptown.com: Cash lyrics
johnnycashmusic.com
legacyrecordings.com/johnnycash
allmusic.com: more about Cash
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