Johnny Cash

Country Music Legend Biography-credits Academy of Achievement
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Johnny Cash Date of birth: February 26, 1932
Date of death: September 12, 2003




Johnny Cash was born in the small town of Kingsland, in the hill country of southern Arkansas. Life had always been difficult there, but when the Great Depression destroyed the fragile agricultural economy of the region, Johnny's parents, Ray and Carrie Cash, could barely earn enough to feed their seven children. In 1935, the New Deal administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt encouraged marginal farmers from the hill country to resettle in the more fertile soil of northeastern Arkansas. The Cash family took the government up on this offer and made the move. Working together, they cleared 20 acres of land to grow cotton. Johnny worked side by side with his parents on the farm.

In the evenings when the day's chores were done, the Cash family gathered on their front porch. Johnny's mother, Carrie, played guitar, and the whole family sang hymns and traditional tunes. Johnny loved his mother's playing and singing, and he was entranced by the country and gospel singers he heard on an uncle's battery-powered radio. By 12 he was writing poems, songs and stories. He took his first non-farm job at 14, carrying water for work gangs, but he had set his heart on a music career. He entered talent contests and sang any time and anywhere people would listen.


When Johnny Cash graduated from high school in 1950, there was no question of his going to college. The Korean War was raging, and he enlisted in the United States Air Force. He was serving with the Air Force in Germany when he bought his very first guitar. With a few of his buddies, he started a band called the Barbarians to play in small night clubs and honky tonks around the air base. When his hitch in the service was over, Johnny Cash moved to Memphis, where he sold appliances door-to-door while trying to break into the music business.

In 1954, he was signed to the Sun Records label owned by Sam Phillips, who had also discovered rock 'n rollers Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. Philips was impressed with the song "Hey Porter" Cash had written when he was returning home from the Air Force. When Phillips wanted a ballad for the b-side of "Hey Porter," Cash wrote "Cry, Cry, Cry" overnight. The single sold over 100,000 copies in the southern states alone. Johnny Cash and his sidemen, the Tennessee Two, began touring with Elvis Presley and the other Sun Records artists. They performed on the Louisiana Hayride radio program and Johnny Cash made his first television appearances on local programs in the south.


With his second recording, "Folsom Prison Blues," Johnny Cash scored a national hit. In 1956, "I Walk the Line," was a top country hit for 44 weeks and sold over a million copies. Johnny began to appear at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, the Mecca of country music. His popularity increased so rapidly that by 1957, country music publications were rating him the top artist in the field.

By 1958 Johnny Cash had published 50 songs, and pop artists far from the country music mainstream were recording Johnny Cash tunes. He had sold over six million records for Sun when he moved to the New York-based Columbia records label. Johnny himself moved to California, and brought his parents along.

By the end of the 1950s, the LP or long-playing record was emerging as the dominant form for recorded music. The 1959 album: Fabulous Johnny Cash, sold half a million copies, as did Hymns and Songs of Our Soil, and the single "Don't Take Your Guns to Town." Concert tours took Johnny to Europe, Asia and Australia. He began to appear as an actor in television westerns. Even as his concert fees escalated, he took time from his schedule to perform free of charge at prisons throughout the nation.


The 1960 single "Ride This Train" won a gold record, as did the 1963 album Ring of Fire, and the 1968 LP Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison. In 1964, Cash, who was one-quarter Cherokee Indian, recorded the album Bitter Tears on Native American themes. That same year, he appeared at the Newport Folk Festival, breaking down a perceived barrier between the genres of country and folk music. At Newport, he made the acquaintance of Bob Dylan. Dylan featured Cash on his own Nashville Skylinealbum and Cash recorded several of Dylan's songs.

As the 1960s wore on, incessant touring took its toll on the singer. To keep up with his hectic schedule, he had become dependent on tranquilizers and the amphetamine Dexedrine. He gave up his home in California and relocated to Hendersonville, Tennessee, near Nashville. When his health recovered and he had freed himself from his chemical dependency, Johnny Cash married June Carter of the legendary Carter Family, whose radio broadcasts had inspired Johnny when he was growing up in Arkansas. With June at his side, he made a triumphant comeback, selling out Carnegie Hall and breaking the Beatles' attendance record at London's Palladium.


In 1969, public television broadcast the documentary film Cash! and the networks became interested in a more regular TV presence. The Johnny Cash Show premiered on ABC television in the summer of 1967 and became part of ABC's regular schedule the following January. This prime time television variety show ran until 1970 and presented guest artists as varied as Ray Charles, Neil Young, Stevie Wonder and The Who.

Renewed sales of his records made Johnny Cash a millionaire. He used his earnings to support mental health associations, a home for autistic children, refuges for battered women, the American Cancer Society, YWCA, Youth For Christ, Campus Life, and humane societies around the country. At the same time, he played benefits for Native American causes and endowed a burn research center in memory of his former guitarist Luther Perkins, who had died in a fire.

In addition to performing for prison inmates, Johnny Cash campaigned for prison reform, corresponded with inmates and helped many return to society. His 1975 autobiography Man In Black sold 1.3 million copies. He surprised fans and critics alike in 1986 by writing Man In White, a best-selling novel based on the life of St. Paul.


In 1987, Johnny Cash received three multi-platinum records for previous sales of over two million copies each of Folsom Prison, San Quentin, and his collection of Greatest Hits. In 1994 his recording career revived with the release of American Recordings, the first of four Grammy award-winning collections of extremely diverse material, ranging from folk songs to his own compositions and songs by contemporary artists such as U2 and Nine Inch Nails. Over the course of his career, he received 11 Grammy awards. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Songwriters' Hall of Fame. He received the Kennedy Center Honors, and the National Medal of the Arts.

His wife of 35 years, June Carter Cash, died from complications following heart surgery in May, 2003. Johnny Cash followed her in death four months later, succumbing to respiratory failure after a long struggle with diabetes. Even in death, Johnny Cash remains a powerful force in American culture. Only two years after his passing, a motion picture based on his life, Walk the Line, enjoyed worldwide critical and popular success. The film generated a revival of interest in his life and work, assuring that another generation would find inspiration in the timeless sound of the Man in Black.

Top 10 Johnny Cash Songs


Just listen and you´ll understand…


I walk the line



Hurt





I see a darkness




Solitary Man




Folsom Prison Blues



Ring of Fire





Sunday Morning Coming Down




Man in Black



A Boy named Sue


San Quentin


Special: Johnny Cash does Elvis

Discography

Johnny Cash is one of the most prolific recorded music artists of all time.

His lengthy career, spanning 1954 to 2003, saw the release of countless albums and singles on several record labels.
Over the years, Cash also collaborated with many of the industry's most notable artists, and received many awards and accolades from different organizations.


Albums


Sun Records

Main article: Johnny Cash Sun discography
All Sun releases contain material recorded from 1955 to 1958.

1957 – Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar
1958 – Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous
1959 – Greatest!
1960 – Sings Hank Williams
1961 – Now Here's Johnny Cash
1962 – All Aboard the Blue Train


Columbia Records

Cash recorded the bulk of his catalog with Columbia. Many of these albums feature previously released material paired with new material.

1958 – The Fabulous Johnny Cash
1959 – Hymns by Johnny Cash
1959 – Songs of Our Soil
1960 – Ride This Train
1960 – Now, There Was a Song!
1961 – The Lure of the Grand Canyon
1962 – Hymns from the Heart
1962 – The Sound of Johnny Cash
1963 – Blood, Sweat, and Tears
1963 – Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash
1963 – The Christmas Spirit
1964 – I Walk the Line
1964 – Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian
1965 – Orange Blossom Special
1965 – Sings the Ballads of the True West
1966 – Everybody Loves a Nut
1966 – Happiness Is You
1967 – Carryin' On with Johnny Cash and June Carter
1968 – From Sea to Shining Sea
1968 – At Folsom Prison (live)
1968 – Heart of Cash
1968 – The Holy Land
1969 – At San Quentin (live)
1970 – Hello, I'm Johnny Cash
1970 – The Johnny Cash Show (live)
1970 – I Walk the Line - Movie Soundtrack
1970 – Little Fauss and Big Halsy - Movie Soundtrack
1971 – Man in Black
1972 – A Thing Called Love
1972 – America: A 200-Year Salute in Story and Song
1972 – The Johnny Cash Family Christmas
1972 – International Superstar
1973 – På Österåker (live)
1973 – Any Old Wind That Blows
1973 – The Gospel Road
1973 – Johnny Cash and His Woman
1974 – Ragged Old Flag
1974 – Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me
1975 – The Children's Album
1975 – Sings Precious Memories
1975 – John R. Cash
1975 – Look at Them Beans
1975 – Strawberry Cake (live)
1976 – One Piece at a Time
1977 – The Last Gunfighter Ballad
1977 – The Rambler
1978 – I Would Like to See You Again
1978 – Gone Girl
1979 – Silver
1980 – Rockabilly Blues
1980 – Classic Christmas
1981 – The Baron
1982 – The Adventures of Johnny Cash
1983 – Johnny 99
1986 – Rainbow

Mercury Records

Cash was signed with Mercury between 1987 and 1990, and recorded four albums of mostly new material, and also rerecorded many of his classic Sun and Columbia songs.

1987 – Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town
1987 – Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series
1988 – Water from the Wells of Home
1989 – Boom Chicka Boom
1991 – The Mystery of Life
1994 – Wanted Man
1996 – Johnny Cash: The Hits
1998 – The Best of Johnny Cash
2000 – The Mercury Years
2002 – Johnny Cash & Friends

American Recordings

The American Recordings series is produced by Rick Rubin and contains the only newly-recorded material released after 1990. These albums are known for their relaxed, laidback feel and for featuring many covers and collaborations with other well-known artists. One song from these sessions, "A Satisfied Mind," was used in the Tarantino movie Kill Bill Volume 2 and has only been released on the soundtrack.

1994 – American Recordings
1996 – Unchained
1998 – VH1 Storytellers: Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson (live)
2000 – American III: Solitary Man
2002 – American IV: The Man Comes Around
2003 – Unearthed
2004 – My Mother's Hymn Book
2006 – American V: A Hundred Highways
2007 – American VI

Miscellaneous albums

1979 – A Believer Sings the Truth
1984 – I Believe
1986 – Believe in Him (Word Records)
1992 – Return to the Promised Land (Renaissance Records)

Compilations

Columbia Records compilations

1966 – Mean as Hell
1967 – Johnny Cash's Greatest Hits
1968 – Old Golden Throat
1969 – More of Old Golden Throat
1970 – The World of Johnny Cash
1971 – The Johnny Cash Collection: Greatest Hits Volume II
1973 – Sunday Morning Coming Down
1974 – Five Feet High and Rising
1978 – Greatest Hits, Vol. 3
1981 – Encore
1982 – Biggest Hits

Harmony Records compilations
1968 – Golden Sounds of Country Music
1969 – This Is Johnny Cash
1970 – The Walls of a Prison
1972 – Understand Your Man
1972 – Give My Love to Rose
1972 – The Johnny Cash Songbook
1973 – Ballads of the American Indian
1973 – This Is Johnny Cash


Bear Family Records compilations
The German Bear Family label has released several compilations of Sun and Columbia era material. These include rarity LPs from the late 70s and comprehensive box sets in the early 90s. More recently, they have also released many of Cash's classic albums individually on CD with bonus tracks.

Rarity compilation albums: Shortly after the founding of the label, in 1978-79, Bear Family released three LPs of previously unreleased or rare recordings from 1958 to 1967.

1978 – The Unissued Johnny Cash
1978 – Johnny & June
1979 – Tall Man
Box sets: In the 1990s Bear Family released four box sets that with the goal of completeness. Collectively, they contain all previously released material recorded by Cash from 1955 to 1969 for both Sun and Columbia, including additional outtakes those included on their LPs from the late 70s.

1990 – The Man in Black 1954-1958
1991 – Come Along and Ride this Train
1991 – The Man in Black 1959-1962
1995 – The Man in Black 1963-1969

Miscellaneous compilations
Since 1990, many compilations have been released by countless record labels. This list, though not exhaustive, includes those not released by Sun, Mercury or American Records.

1992 – The Essential Johnny Cash 1955-1983 (Legacy Recordings)
1994 – Super Hits (Legacy Recordings)
1998 – Johnny Cash: Crazy Country
1999 – 16 Biggest Hits (Legacy Recordings)
2000 – Love, God and Murder
2001 – 16 Biggest Hits: Volume II
2002 – Man In Black: The Very Best of Johnny Cash
2002 – The Essential Johnny Cash (Legacy Recordings)
2002 – Johnny Cash at Madison Square Garden (live)
2003 – Live Recordings from the Louisiana Hayride (live; Scena Records)
2003 – Christmas with Johnny Cash (Legacy Recordings)
2004 – Life
2005 – The Complete Sun Recordings, 1955-1958 (Time Life)
2005 – Walking the Line: The Legendary Sun Recordings
2005 – The Legend (Legacy Recordings)
2005 – The Legend of Johnny Cash
2006 – June Carter and Johnny Cash: Duets
2006 – Personal File (2CD set) (Legacy Recordings)
2006 – The Legend of Johnny Cash Vol. II

Collaboration albums

1982 – The Survivors Live: Cash, Lewis & Perkins (live)
1985 – Highwayman
1986 – Class of '55: Cash, Perkins, Orbison & Lewis
1986 – Heroes: Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings
1990 – Highwayman 2
1995 – Highwaymen: The Road Goes on Forever

Duets and guest appearances

1969 – "Girl from the North Country" from Bob Dylan's Nashville Skyline
1971 – "A Front Row Seat to Hear Ole Johnny Sing" and "26 Second Song" with Shel Silverstein
1972 – "A Song to Mama" and "The World Needs a Melody" with The Carter Family
1972 – "I See Men as Trees Walking" (live) with other artists for Jesus Sound Explosion
1972 – "Amazing Grace" with the Evangel Temple Choir
1975 – "Gospel Ship", "Song to Woody" and "Hey Porter" from The Earl Scruggs Revue's Anniversary Special, Vol. 1
1976 – "I Still Miss Someone" and "My Ship Will Sail" (background vocals) from The Earl Scruggs Revue's Anniversary Special, Vol. 2
1976 – "No Earthly Good" with The Oak Ridge Boys on their Old Fashioned, Down Home, Hand Clappin' Foot Stompin' Southern Style Gospel Quartet Music lp on Columbia records.
1976 – "My Ship Will Sail" from The Carter Family's Country's First Family
1976 – "Ragged Old Flag" (live) with other artists for It's Time to Pray, America
1976 – "Love is My Refuge" with Jack Routh
1979 – "Nasty Dan" (with Oscar the Grouch) and "Five Feet High and Rising" (with Biff) with other arists from Children's TV Workshop Stars Come Out on Sesame Street
1979 – "Jealous Loving Heart" and "Soldier's Last Letter" from Ernest Tubb's The Legend and the Legacy
1979 – "Six Gun Shooting", "Help Him, Jesus" and "The Death of Me" from the concept album The Legend of Jesse James by Cash, Levon Helm, Emmylou Harris and Charlie Daniels
1980 – "What's Good for You (Should Be Alright for Me)" and "Mother Maybelle" (with Marty Stuart) with Curly Seckler and the Nashville Grass
1980 – "Jordan" (with Emmylou Harris, Tony Rice and Ricky Skaggs) from Emmylou Harris' Roses in the Snow
1981 – "The General Lee" from the Dukes of Hazzard soundtrack
1981 – "Mister Garfield" with Merle Kilgore
1982 – "One More Ride", "Hey Porter" and "Get in Line Brother" from Marty Stuart's Busy Bee Café
1982 – "That's How I Got to Memphis" from Rosanne Cash's Somewhere in the Stars
1983 – "The Love That Never Failed" with other artists for Star Spangled Country
1983 – "I Still Miss Someone" from Bill Monroe's Bill Monroe and Friends
1983 – "Love Me Tender" from Julie Andrews' Love Me Tender
1984 – "Crazy Old Soldier" from Ray Charles' Friendship
1984 – "Suffer Little Children" from Glen Campbell's No More Night
1985 – "Hey Porter", "Luther Played the Boogie" and "Big River" with other artists for Louisiana Hayride Saturday Nite
1986 – "Be Careful Who You Love (Arthur's Song)" from Waylon Jennings' Sweet Mother Texas
1986 – "Let America Be America Again" (with Will D. Campbell, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter and Waylon Jennings) for They Come to America
1986 – "Better Class of Losers" (with John Schneider and Waylon Jennings) from John Schneider's Take the Long Way Home
1987 – "The Ten Commandments of Love" from David Allan Coe's A Matter of Life and Death
1987 – "Amazing Grace" from Joanne Cash Yates' Amazing Grace
1988 – "Waitin' for a Southern Train" with Jimmy Tittle
1989 – "Jesus is Lord", "I've Been Saved", "Gospel Medley", "How Beautiful Heaven Must Be" and "Lord I'm Coming Home" from Joanne Cash Yates' Live
1989 – "Life's Railway to Heaven" and "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" from The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Vol. 2
1989 – "Wildwood Flower", "Worried Man Blues", "Ain't Gonna Work Tomorrow" and "Church in the Wildwood" with The Carter Family
1989 – "Woodcarver" with Sandy Kelly
1990 – "Thoughts on the Flag" (with George Jones and Tom T. Hall) and "Guess Things Happen That Way" from Tommy Cash's The 25th Anniversary Album
1990 – "Get Rhythm" from Martin Delray's Get Rhythm
1991 – "Man in Black" from One Bad Pig's I Scream Sunday
1992 – "Doin' My Time" from Marty Stuart's This One's Gonna Hurt You
1993 – "The Wanderer" from U2's Zooropa
1993 – "The Devil Comes Back to Georgia" (with Charlie Daniels, Travis Tritt and Marty Stuart) from Mark O'Connor's Heroes
1994 – "Tennessee Stud" from Michael Martin Murpey's America's Horses
1994 – "A Comment from Johnny Cash" from Rose Maddox's $35 and a Dream
1994 – "The Little Drummer Boy" from Ben Keith's Seven Gates: A Christmas Album by Ben Keith and Friends
1994 – "Folsom Prison Blues" (with Brooks & Dunn) and "Forever Young" with other artists for Red Hot + Country
1994 – "Folsom Prison Blues" (live at the Grammy Legend Awards on December 5, 1990) with other artists for Grammy's Greatest Country Moments, Vol. 1
1995 – "Get Rhythm" from John Stewart's Airdream Believer
1995 – "Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord)" and "Redemption" with other artists for Silent Witness, Vol. 1
1995 – "Go Wild" and "The Winding Stream" from Carlene Carter's Little Acts of Treason
1995 – "Where the Soul Never Dies" from The Cluster Pluckers' Unplucked
1995 – "Blistered" from Jimmy Tittle's It's in the Attitude
1996 – "In Your Mind" with other artists for the Dead Man Walking soundtrack
1996 – "Time of the Preacher" with other artists for Twisted Willie, a tribute album to Willie Nelson
1996 – "Pepsi Commercial" from Great Cola Commercials
1996 – "Two Old Army Pals" (with Bono, Willie Nelson and Tom Petty) and "Give Me Back My Job" from Carl Perkins' Go Cat Go!
1996 – "Steel Guitar Rag" from Robby Turner's Man of Steel
1996 – "Johnny Cash Hit Medley - Ring of Fire/I Walk the Line/Folsom Prison Blues", "I Will Rock and Roll with You" and "Fly Little Bird" (with John Carter Cash) with Tom Astor
1996 – "The Little Drummer Boy" from Collin Raye's Christmas: The Gift
1998 – "Cowboys and Ladies" (with June Carter Cash) and "Heroes in Black and White" with other artists for All My Friends Are Cowboys
1998 – "In the Garden" with other artists for the soundtrack to The Apostle
1998 – "I Washed My Face in the Morning Dew" with other artists for Real: The Tom T. Hall Project
1999 – "Johnny Cash Outro" from Marty Stuart's The Pilgrim
1999 – "Guess Things Happen That Way", "Silver Haired Daddy of Mine" and "Thoughts on the Flag" (with George Jones and Tom T. Hall) from Tommy Cash's Classics
2000 – "So Doggone Lonesome", "I Walk the Line" and "Get Rhythm" with other artists for Live at the Big "D" Jamboree, Vol. 2
2000 – "Introduction" and "Take Me Home" (with Ramblin' Jack Elliott) from the soundtrack to The Ballad of Ramblin' Jack
2000 – "I'm on Fire" with other artists for Badlands: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska
2001 – "I Walk the Line (Revisited)" from Rodney Crowell's The Houston Kid
2001 – "Passin' Thru" (with Don Henley) from Earl Scruggs's Earl Scruggs and Friends
2001 – "Big River" (with Trick Pony and Waylon Jennings) from Trick Pony's album Trick Pony
2002 – "For You" (with Dave Matthews) for the We Were Soldiers soundtrack
2002 – "Tears in the Holston River" from The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Vol. 3
2003 – "City of New Orleans" (with The Highwaymen), "Folsom Prison Blues", "I've Always Been Crazy" (with Waylon Jennings) and "Best of All Possible Worlds" (with The Highwaymen) with other artists from Farm Aid, Vol. 1: Live
2003 – "September When It Comes" from Rosanne Cash's Rules of Travel
2003 – "Keep on the Sunny Side", "Temptation", "Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone" and "Wildwood Flower" from June Carter Cash's Wildwood Flower
2003 – "The Way-Worn Traveler" from John Carter Cash's Bitter Harvest

Videos


Concert videos

2003 – A Concert Behind Prison Walls – Recorded 1976 for a TV special
2005 – Live at Montreux 1994
2005 – CBS TV Anniversary Special: The First 25 Years – Recorded March 12, 1980
2005 – Live from Austin TX – Recorded January 3, 1987 for Austin City Limits
2006 – Live in Denmark – Recorded 1971
2006 – Johnny Cash in Ireland – Recorded 1993

Music videos

Year Video Notes
1956 "Folsom Prison Blues"
1970 "Jackson" With June Carter Cash
1981 "The Baron" Featuring June Carter Cash and Marty Stuart
1983 "Johnny 99"
1984 "Chicken in Black"
1985 "Highwayman" With The Highwaymen
1987 "Sixteen Tons"
1987 "Let Him Roll" Featuring Waylon Jennings
1990 "Silver Stallion" With The Highwaymen
1991 "Goin' by the Book"
1994 "Delia's Gone" Directed by Anton Corbijn and featuring Kate Moss
1994 "The Man Who Couldn't Cry"
1995 "If He Came Back Again" With The Highwaymen
1996 "Rusty Cage"
1998 "I Walk the Line (Revisited)" With Rodney Crowell
2002 "Hurt" Directed by Mark Romanek and featuring June Carter Cash
2003 "September When It Comes" With Rosanne Cash
2006 "God's Gonna Cut You Down" Directed by Tony Kaye & featuring a host of celebrities
2007 "Help Me" Also directed by Tony Kaye, features an interview with Larry Gatlin at the Folsom State Prison (the same place where Johnny performed at in 1968 for his album Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison)


Awards and honors


Hall of Fame Inductions
1977 – Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame
1980 – Country Music Hall of Fame
1992 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Country Music Association
1968 – Album of the Year, At Folsom Prison
1969 – Vocal Group of the Year, with June Carter
1969 – Male Vocalist of the Year
1969 – Single of the Year, "A Boy Named Sue"
1969 – Album of the Year, At San Quentin
1969 – Entertainer of the Year
2003 – Music Video of the Year, "Hurt"
2003 – Single of the Year, "Hurt"
2003 – Album of the Year, American IV: The Man Comes Around

Grammy Awards

1968 – Best Country & Western Performance, Duet, Trio Or Group, "Jackson" (with June Carter Cash)
1969 – Best Male Country Vocal, "Folsom Prison Blues"
1969 – Best Album Notes, At Folsom Prison
1970 – Best Male Country Vocal, "A Boy Named Sue"
1970 – Best Country Song, "A Boy Named Sue" by Shel Silverstein
1970 – Best Album Notes (written by Cash) for Bob Dylan's Nashville Skyline
1971 – Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, "If I Were A Carpenter", with June Carter Cash
1987 – Best Spoken Word or Non-musical Album, Interviews From the Class of '55 Recording Sessions, with Carl Perkins, Chips Moman, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison and Sam Phillips
1995 – Best Contemporary Folk Album, American Recordings
1998 – Best Country Album, Unchained
1999 – Lifetime Achievement
2001 – Best Country Male Vocal, "Solitary Man"
2002 – Best Country Album, Timeless: Hank Williams Tribute (Cash contributed a cover of "I Dreamed About Mama Last Night")
2003 – Best Country Male Vocal, "Give My Love To Rose"
2004 – Best Short Form Video, "Hurt", directed by Mark Romanek
2006 – Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package, "The Legend"

MTV Awards
In 2003 the video for Hurt was nominated for 6 MTV awards and won the Best Cinematography category.


Miscellaneous awards

1985 – Single of the Year, "Highwayman" (with The Highwaymen) – Academy Of Country Music
1989 – Living Legend – Music City News
1991 – The Spoken Word – Angel Award (Cash's reading of the New Testament)
2002 – Spirit of Americana Free Speech Award – Americana Awards
2004 – Recorded Event Of The Year – International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)

Tribute albums

Many tribute albums in honor of Johnny Cash have been recorded.

2002 – Dressed in Black: A Tribute to Johnny Cash
2002 – Kindred Spirits: A Tribute to the Songs of Johnny Cash
2006 – The Sound Must Go On by the Tennessee Three