Johnny Cash grew up chopping cotton in a small town in southeast Arkansas. Every Sunday in a little church, he was transported by gospel music from the hard world he knew to a far horizon. And he transformed the trouble he had known into gruff music of ache, heart, and hope, even against the odds.
He was still just a kid in the Army when he wrote “Folsom Prison Blues” and just out of the service when “I Walk the Line” hit the charts. Fifty million records and 27 albums later, Johnny Cash has redefined the boundaries of country music. He is the loner, the man in black, a hard edged writer with a soft heart. With his wife, the very gifted June Carter Cash, and family often by his side, he has traveled all over the world to give a voice to the feelings of farmers and workers, prisoners and lovers.
From the heartland of America, he’s sung for the people who are the heart of America. Through his music, he has proved again and again the redeeming power of struggle and faith. And he has made country music not just music for our country but for the entire world. Johnny Cash, you have our applause, our admiration, and we have your records.
- Bill Clinton at the Kennedy Center Honors, December 8, 1996
