JOHNNY Cash is considered one of the greatest country singers of all time.
But even stars can come from humble upbringings, just like Johnny.
Where was Johnny Cash born?
Johnny Cash was born in Kingsland, Arkansas on February 26, 1932, to Carrie Cloveree and Ray Cash.
His mother, Carrie, helped her son study music from a young age and even taught him the guitar.
In 1935, when he was three years old, the family moved to Dyess, Arkansas.
They established a home in a New Deal colony created to allow poor families to work land they could later own.
Sadly, Johnny died from complications from diabetes on September 12, 2003, four months after his wife’s passing.
He underwent several surgeries throughout his life, including on his jaw, heart and knee, after suffering from health problems.
Johnny was known to have struggled with alcohol and drug abuse at several different stages in his life.
The singer was diagnosed with automatic neuropathy in 1997, a condition that can accompany diabetes.
Did Johnny Cash have brothers?
Johnny had six brothers and sisters in total.
He had three older siblings, Jack, Roy and Margaret Louise, and three younger ones, Tommy, Reba and Joanne.
Tommy Cash is also a country music star, after following in Johnny’s footsteps.
Unfortunately, the Cash family suffered a tragedy when Johnny’s brother, Jack, was just 14 years old.
One Saturday, while cutting wood, he was accidentally pulled into a table saw.
The saw mutilated Jack’s body, almost cutting him in two. He died a week after the terrible accident.
When was Johnny Cash discovered?
After his military service, Johnny settled in Memphis, Tennessee to pursue a music career.
Performances with the Tennessee Two and at county fairs led to an audition with Sam Phillips of Sun Records, who signed Cash in 1955.
Songs like I Walk the Line, Hey, Porter, Folsom Prison Blues and Cry, Cry, Cry brought him a lot of attention.
In 1957, Johnny was the top country and western artist.
Another huge string to his bow came when, on December 4, 1956, Elvis Presley appeared with Sam Phillips while Carl Perkins was in the studio recording new tracks, with Jerry Lee Lewis accompanying him on piano.
Johnny was also in the studio and the four started an impromptu jam session.
Sam left the tapes running and the recordings, almost half of which were gospel songs, survived.
They have since been released under the title Million Dollar Quartet and have even been turned into a West End play.
In the book Cash: the Autobiography, Johnny wrote that he was furthest from the microphone and sang at a higher pitch to blend in with Elvis.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story