WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.540 Hello, I'm Johnny Cash. Chills. Every time. Every 00:00:03.540 --> 00:00:07.139 single time. That has to be the single most electrifying, 00:00:07.259 --> 00:00:10.140 but also somehow the most understated concert 00:00:10.140 --> 00:00:13.500 introduction in the history of modern music. 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:16.019 It's just so simple. Yeah. But it belongs to 00:00:16.019 --> 00:00:19.679 this man who was maybe the greatest walking, 00:00:19.879 --> 00:00:23.079 talking, singing paradox in all of American culture. 00:00:23.260 --> 00:00:25.179 Right. We're talking about J .R. Cash, who the 00:00:25.179 --> 00:00:28.420 world knows as Johnny Cash, an icon who didn't 00:00:28.420 --> 00:00:31.570 just... cross genres, he he sort of consumed 00:00:31.570 --> 00:00:33.729 them. He was a country star, a rock and roll 00:00:33.729 --> 00:00:36.590 pioneer, a folk hero, a bluesman, a gospel giant. 00:00:37.049 --> 00:00:39.210 All at once. And what's so critical, I think, 00:00:39.210 --> 00:00:41.869 is how he just transcended eras. We're talking 00:00:41.869 --> 00:00:43.969 about an artist who sold, what, over 90 million 00:00:43.969 --> 00:00:46.310 records? Upwards of 90 million. And he stayed 00:00:46.310 --> 00:00:49.450 relevant from his, you know, his raw early rockabilly 00:00:49.450 --> 00:00:51.869 stuff at Sun Records in the 50s. All the way 00:00:51.869 --> 00:00:54.009 through dominating the charts in the 60s and 00:00:54.009 --> 00:00:57.250 70s. And then decades later, he has this massive 00:00:57.250 --> 00:00:59.770 critical renaissance covering Nine Inch Nails 00:00:59.770 --> 00:01:02.109 and Depeche Mode. It's just an unbroken chain 00:01:02.109 --> 00:01:04.859 of influence. It's wild. It is a truly remarkable 00:01:04.859 --> 00:01:07.519 story of professional longevity. And he did it 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:10.019 all without ever changing that voice, that distinct, 00:01:10.219 --> 00:01:14.739 deep, calm bass baritone. Never. So our mission 00:01:14.739 --> 00:01:17.980 today is to take this huge stack of source material 00:01:17.980 --> 00:01:20.620 we have, biographies, interviews, historical 00:01:20.620 --> 00:01:24.200 accounts, and really just unpack the dense, contradictory 00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:28.239 layers of his life. We want to find those aha. 00:01:29.179 --> 00:01:31.700 Exactly. The moments that explain that tension 00:01:31.700 --> 00:01:34.120 between the rebellious outlaw image he built 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:36.719 up. And his really profound, devout Christian 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:38.739 faith. Yeah, we're focused on the complexity, 00:01:38.920 --> 00:01:41.859 his very public, very severe struggles with addiction. 00:01:42.040 --> 00:01:45.219 His unique brand of really radical activism for 00:01:45.219 --> 00:01:47.260 marginalized people. And the stories, profound 00:01:47.260 --> 00:01:49.500 personal stories behind those signature songs, 00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:51.939 I Walk the Line, Ring of Fire, and of course 00:01:51.939 --> 00:01:53.959 those legendary prison concert albums that just 00:01:53.959 --> 00:01:56.040 shifted the whole culture. It's the ultimate 00:01:56.040 --> 00:01:59.840 story of moral struggle. and redemption but it's 00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:02.540 played out not quietly in private but on the 00:02:02.540 --> 00:02:04.579 biggest public stage you can imagine so let's 00:02:04.579 --> 00:02:06.239 get into it let's unpack this journey starting 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:08.439 right at the foundation the hardscrabble roots 00:02:08.439 --> 00:02:12.379 okay so his name it feels like the perfect place 00:02:12.379 --> 00:02:14.840 to start because it really does set the stage 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:18.020 for a man who was constantly redefining and reinventing 00:02:18.020 --> 00:02:20.879 himself he wasn't born johnny cash no not even 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:24.960 john he was born j .r cash February 26, 1932, 00:02:25.139 --> 00:02:27.500 in Kingsland, Arkansas. Just the initials, J 00:02:27.500 --> 00:02:30.479 .R. Just the initials. And that detail is so 00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:33.240 significant. His parents couldn't agree on a 00:02:33.240 --> 00:02:36.360 name. His mother, Carrie, she wanted John. His 00:02:36.360 --> 00:02:39.479 father, Ray, wanted to name him Ray. So J .R. 00:02:39.479 --> 00:02:42.180 was the compromise. It was the compromise, which, 00:02:42.379 --> 00:02:44.139 if you think about it, speaks to a man caught 00:02:44.139 --> 00:02:46.599 between two competing forces right from the moment 00:02:46.599 --> 00:02:49.300 he was born. And that theme just dominates his 00:02:49.300 --> 00:02:51.680 entire life. And that compromise, it runs right 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:53.960 into a wall of bureaucracy pretty quickly when 00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:56.680 he enlists in the Air Force in 1950. Yes. The 00:02:56.680 --> 00:02:58.840 military was not having it. They did not accept 00:02:58.840 --> 00:03:01.919 initials as a first name on official documents. 00:03:02.139 --> 00:03:04.000 You had to have a proper name. So he was forced 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:07.319 to choose. He was. And so J .R. Cash officially 00:03:07.319 --> 00:03:10.800 becomes John R. Cash. And this little bureaucratic 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:14.259 change is actually the first big step in creating 00:03:14.259 --> 00:03:17.360 his public identity. J .R., the poor farm boy 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:19.960 from Arkansas, is now John R. Cash, the staff 00:03:19.960 --> 00:03:21.740 sergeant. And then the final transformation, 00:03:21.780 --> 00:03:23.520 of course, is when he signs with Sam Phillips 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:26.379 at Sun Records in 1955. That's when he fully 00:03:26.379 --> 00:03:28.819 adopts the stage name, Johnny Cash. So you have 00:03:28.819 --> 00:03:31.599 this incredible timeline of his identity just 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:34.360 in his name. J .R., the compromise. John R., 00:03:34.360 --> 00:03:37.710 the soldier. And Johnny Cash, the rebel and the 00:03:37.710 --> 00:03:40.289 star. That military name change is a great marker 00:03:40.289 --> 00:03:42.189 for his move into the public eye. But if you 00:03:42.189 --> 00:03:43.990 really want to understand the soul of the man, 00:03:44.129 --> 00:03:46.729 you have to go back further. Back to Dyes, Arkansas. 00:03:47.050 --> 00:03:48.610 You absolutely do. The family moved there in 00:03:48.610 --> 00:03:51.590 1935. He was just three. This is the absolute 00:03:51.590 --> 00:03:54.409 depth of Great Depression. And Dyes. This wasn't 00:03:54.409 --> 00:03:55.889 just any farm town. You mentioned this before 00:03:55.889 --> 00:03:57.930 we started. It was a New Deal colony. That's 00:03:57.930 --> 00:03:59.909 some heavy historical context for a childhood. 00:04:00.330 --> 00:04:03.110 It's crucial context. Dias was part of FDR's 00:04:03.110 --> 00:04:05.550 resettlement administration. It was designed 00:04:05.550 --> 00:04:08.889 to give poor, landless families, exactly like 00:04:08.889 --> 00:04:11.490 the Caches, a fresh start. Land they could work 00:04:11.490 --> 00:04:14.310 and eventually own. So it represented hope. Hope, 00:04:14.389 --> 00:04:17.069 yes, but also just relentless, back -breaking 00:04:17.069 --> 00:04:19.569 labor. And the sources are so clear that the 00:04:19.569 --> 00:04:21.670 labor started incredibly young for him. From 00:04:21.670 --> 00:04:23.730 the age of five, he's out in the cotton fields. 00:04:23.970 --> 00:04:26.490 Five years old. working alongside his parents, 00:04:26.730 --> 00:04:29.290 his siblings, and he often talked about singing 00:04:29.290 --> 00:04:31.470 with them while they worked just to get through 00:04:31.470 --> 00:04:34.649 the long hours and that awful heat. Wow. And 00:04:34.649 --> 00:04:38.149 that combination of intense physical work, deep 00:04:38.149 --> 00:04:41.129 poverty, and the sort of collective struggle 00:04:41.129 --> 00:04:44.129 of that era. It instilled in him this deeply 00:04:44.129 --> 00:04:46.269 ingrained empathy for the poor, for the working 00:04:46.269 --> 00:04:48.470 class, for anyone who was neglected. So when 00:04:48.470 --> 00:04:50.250 he later sang about hardship, he wasn't just 00:04:50.250 --> 00:04:53.149 telling a story. He was reciting his own autobiography. 00:04:53.209 --> 00:04:55.350 It's the direct source material for dozens of 00:04:55.350 --> 00:04:58.050 his songs. The flood narrative in Five Feet High 00:04:58.050 --> 00:05:00.029 and Rising. That's a direct memory from Dias. 00:05:00.189 --> 00:05:02.889 And this is where that hard reality of poverty 00:05:02.889 --> 00:05:05.290 intersects with a tragedy that would just scar 00:05:05.290 --> 00:05:07.810 him for the rest of his life. The death of his 00:05:07.810 --> 00:05:11.050 older brother, Jack, in 1944. This is, I think, 00:05:11.050 --> 00:05:13.050 the defining trauma of his childhood, maybe his 00:05:13.050 --> 00:05:16.410 entire life. Jack was two years older, and J 00:05:16.410 --> 00:05:18.610 .R. was closest to him. And he was working to 00:05:18.610 --> 00:05:21.449 help the family. Exactly. Jack was working part 00:05:21.449 --> 00:05:23.569 -time at a high school wood shop, trying to earn 00:05:23.569 --> 00:05:26.009 a little extra money, and he was tragically cut 00:05:26.009 --> 00:05:29.740 by an unguarded table saw. He... He lingered 00:05:29.740 --> 00:05:32.000 for a week before he died. That's just awful. 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:34.339 And Cass later talked about this intense sense 00:05:34.339 --> 00:05:36.839 of foreboding the family had that morning. His 00:05:36.839 --> 00:05:39.100 mother even begged Jack not to go to work, to 00:05:39.100 --> 00:05:42.060 go fishing with JR instead. But Jack, he was 00:05:42.060 --> 00:05:44.399 so committed to his faith and he knew the family 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:47.069 needed the money, so he insisted on going. The 00:05:47.069 --> 00:05:49.189 guilt from that must have been immense. It never 00:05:49.189 --> 00:05:52.009 left him. The burden of that loss, the guilt 00:05:52.009 --> 00:05:54.529 of not being there. He spoke about it often later 00:05:54.529 --> 00:05:56.589 in life. Sometimes he would get choked up on 00:05:56.589 --> 00:05:58.410 stage talking about how he was certain he would 00:05:58.410 --> 00:06:01.189 be meeting his brother in heaven. That one event 00:06:01.189 --> 00:06:03.709 just fuses everything together, doesn't it? The 00:06:03.709 --> 00:06:05.990 economic struggle, the personal loss, and this 00:06:05.990 --> 00:06:10.009 intense need for faith and redemption. It absolutely 00:06:10.009 --> 00:06:12.149 establishes that duality of the sinner battling 00:06:12.149 --> 00:06:14.990 for salvation that would define his entire life, 00:06:15.110 --> 00:06:17.610 public and private. And musically, the seeds 00:06:17.610 --> 00:06:20.009 are all being planted right there in Dice. His 00:06:20.009 --> 00:06:22.009 mother and a friend taught him guitar when he 00:06:22.009 --> 00:06:25.310 was about 12. And the influences were just like 00:06:25.310 --> 00:06:28.449 his life. Completely split. On one hand, you 00:06:28.449 --> 00:06:31.170 have this devout traditional gospel music. He 00:06:31.170 --> 00:06:33.430 later honored that with the album My Mother's 00:06:33.430 --> 00:06:34.790 Hymnbook. But on the other hand, the sources 00:06:34.790 --> 00:06:37.430 point to a really surprising influence. Traditional 00:06:37.430 --> 00:06:40.589 Irish folk music. Irish folk music, right. In 00:06:40.589 --> 00:06:43.490 rural Arkansas in the 1940s. It seems so out 00:06:43.490 --> 00:06:46.170 of place. Where did he even hear that? It was 00:06:46.170 --> 00:06:48.470 from the radio. Specifically, it was performed 00:06:48.470 --> 00:06:51.089 every week by the tenor Dennis Day on the Jack 00:06:51.089 --> 00:06:53.689 Benny radio program. So you have this young J 00:06:53.689 --> 00:06:56.069 .R. Cash. He's working in the cotton fields and 00:06:56.069 --> 00:06:59.230 he's absorbing the spiritual power of hymns and 00:06:59.230 --> 00:07:02.629 the storytelling of these old Irish tunes. Exactly. 00:07:02.790 --> 00:07:04.370 And, you know, it's interesting. He actually 00:07:04.370 --> 00:07:07.290 started out with a high tenor voice. It only 00:07:07.290 --> 00:07:10.389 later deepened into that famous resonant low 00:07:10.389 --> 00:07:12.910 bass baritone that became his signature. Which 00:07:12.910 --> 00:07:15.509 brings us to his military service. This part 00:07:15.509 --> 00:07:18.149 of his life is such a crucial, almost shocking 00:07:18.149 --> 00:07:21.250 detour into Cold War intelligence. It's incredible. 00:07:21.610 --> 00:07:23.870 Period. He enlists in the Air Force in 1950, 00:07:24.129 --> 00:07:26.550 makes it to staff sergeant. And after meeting 00:07:26.550 --> 00:07:29.550 Vivian Liberto in San Antonio during basic training, 00:07:29.670 --> 00:07:32.189 who was the first great love of his life. Right. 00:07:32.269 --> 00:07:34.569 He gets stationed in Landsberg, West Germany 00:07:34.569 --> 00:07:37.319 for four years. This is during the Korean War 00:07:37.319 --> 00:07:39.180 era. And his job wasn't just anything. It was 00:07:39.180 --> 00:07:41.819 highly specialized. He was a Morse code operator 00:07:41.819 --> 00:07:44.959 for the U .S. Air Force Security Service. His 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:48.199 specific task was intercepting Soviet Army transmissions. 00:07:48.379 --> 00:07:50.199 Which puts him right on the front lines of the 00:07:50.199 --> 00:07:52.620 Cold War intelligence game. And here's the detail 00:07:52.620 --> 00:07:54.540 from the sources that just blows my mind every 00:07:54.540 --> 00:07:57.180 time I read it. Cash was said to be the first 00:07:57.180 --> 00:07:59.480 American to learn the news of Joseph Stalin's 00:07:59.480 --> 00:08:02.540 death in March of 1953. It's astonishing, isn't 00:08:02.540 --> 00:08:05.199 it? That intelligence came directly through the 00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:08.519 Soviet Morse code transmissions that he was personally 00:08:08.519 --> 00:08:11.860 decoding. The future voice of the American underclass 00:08:11.860 --> 00:08:14.600 is the guy confirming the death of a global dictator. 00:08:14.740 --> 00:08:18.360 The focus and isolation that job required. It 00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:21.230 must have been intense. It had to be. But it 00:08:21.230 --> 00:08:23.790 probably mirrored the discipline he'd need later 00:08:23.790 --> 00:08:26.930 to manage a massive touring career. And even 00:08:26.930 --> 00:08:29.990 then, the music never stopped. While he was over 00:08:29.990 --> 00:08:33.669 there, he formed his first proper band. The Landsberg 00:08:33.669 --> 00:08:37.250 Barbarians. Great name. It was his earliest attempt 00:08:37.250 --> 00:08:40.309 to really apply that creativity in a performance 00:08:40.309 --> 00:08:42.110 setting. And while he's building this musical 00:08:42.110 --> 00:08:44.389 foundation overseas, he's also building his personal 00:08:44.389 --> 00:08:47.480 foundation back home. He and Vivian Liberto exchanged 00:08:47.480 --> 00:08:50.179 thousands of letters while he was gone. That 00:08:50.179 --> 00:08:52.200 correspondence is its own kind of dedication. 00:08:52.279 --> 00:08:55.039 So he gets honorably discharged as a staff sergeant 00:08:55.039 --> 00:08:58.559 in July 54, comes back to Texas, marries Vivian 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:01.120 immediately. So John R. Cash comes home. He's 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:03.340 a veteran. He's a husband. And he's got this 00:09:03.340 --> 00:09:06.179 conviction that he can lead a band and command 00:09:06.179 --> 00:09:08.720 a room. It was time to start building the legend. 00:09:09.019 --> 00:09:12.399 So in 1954, he and Vivian, they moved to Memphis, 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:14.919 Tennessee. He's still got these sort of practical 00:09:14.919 --> 00:09:17.059 ambitions, studying to be a radio announcer. 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:18.899 But he's paying the bills, selling appliances 00:09:18.899 --> 00:09:22.320 door to door. Exactly. But at night, that musical 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:24.419 foundation he built in Germany really starts 00:09:24.419 --> 00:09:27.620 to solidify. He starts playing with two mechanics 00:09:27.620 --> 00:09:30.600 he met. a guitarist named Luther Perkins, and 00:09:30.600 --> 00:09:33.360 a bassist, Marshall Grant. The Tennessee Two. 00:09:33.620 --> 00:09:36.440 Who later become the Tennessee Three when W .S. 00:09:36.460 --> 00:09:39.879 Holland joins on drums. And their sound, born 00:09:39.879 --> 00:09:43.210 out of this trio, it was just... Instantly recognizable. 00:09:43.509 --> 00:09:45.509 It was so distinctive, the sources describe it 00:09:45.509 --> 00:09:48.450 as that train -like chugging guitar rhythm. The 00:09:48.450 --> 00:09:50.649 famous boom -chicka -boom. It was so sparse and 00:09:50.649 --> 00:09:53.690 percussive and just driving. The boom was that 00:09:53.690 --> 00:09:57.009 steady, muted downbeat from Luther Perkins. He'd 00:09:57.009 --> 00:09:58.789 wedge a piece of paper under the strings of his 00:09:58.789 --> 00:10:01.110 Fender Telecaster to get that sound. And the 00:10:01.110 --> 00:10:03.669 chicka was the syncopated upstroke. It's such 00:10:03.669 --> 00:10:06.549 a technical detail, but it's so critical. It 00:10:06.549 --> 00:10:08.809 made his music sound industrial, like the freight 00:10:08.809 --> 00:10:11.169 trains he loved to sing about. Which links right 00:10:11.169 --> 00:10:14.500 back. his childhood the themes of travel poverty 00:10:14.500 --> 00:10:18.340 escape it was all there in that rhythm and that's 00:10:18.340 --> 00:10:20.120 the sound he brought with him when he finally 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:22.600 got the courage to audition for sam phillips 00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:24.580 at sun records phillips of course was the king 00:10:24.580 --> 00:10:26.860 maker he'd already discovered elvis and cash 00:10:26.860 --> 00:10:29.840 was desperate but he immediately runs into that 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:32.000 religious barrier that had been with him since 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:35.399 he was a kid he auditions with gospel songs and 00:10:35.399 --> 00:10:37.940 phillips who was focused purely on what would 00:10:37.940 --> 00:10:41.879 sell just rejects them flat out he did And there's 00:10:41.879 --> 00:10:44.679 that infamous rumor that Phillips told him to 00:10:44.679 --> 00:10:46.820 go home and sin, then come back with a song I 00:10:46.820 --> 00:10:50.100 can sell. Now, Cash later denied Phillips used 00:10:50.100 --> 00:10:52.620 those exact words. But the message was clear. 00:10:52.779 --> 00:10:54.980 The message was clear. Phillips wanted rockabilly 00:10:54.980 --> 00:10:58.019 and country. And Cash delivered. He adapted his 00:10:58.019 --> 00:11:00.100 style and broke through with hits like Hey Porter, 00:11:00.299 --> 00:11:03.200 Cry, Cry, Cry, and of course Folsom Prison Glues, 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:05.620 which hit the country top five. And then the 00:11:05.620 --> 00:11:08.379 huge one, I Walk the Line. That goes to number 00:11:08.379 --> 00:11:11.509 one country and even cracks the top 20. He very 00:11:11.509 --> 00:11:13.669 quickly became Son's most consistently selling 00:11:13.669 --> 00:11:17.549 artist. But he never quite fit the mold. And 00:11:17.549 --> 00:11:20.830 that early success leads to one of the most famous, 00:11:21.049 --> 00:11:24.399 uh... M -Com 2 sessions in music history. The 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:27.779 Million Dollar Quartet. December 4th, 1956. This 00:11:27.779 --> 00:11:31.080 is pure rock and roll mythology. It is. Elvis, 00:11:31.299 --> 00:11:33.720 who was already a megastar, just drops by the 00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:36.159 studio while Carl Perkins is recording. Jerry 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:38.159 Lee Lewis is there on piano and Cash is there 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:41.360 too. And Sam Phillips, sensing history, just 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:43.360 lets the tapes roll. What's so fascinating to 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:45.960 me is that this session... which is seen as this, 00:11:46.059 --> 00:11:48.279 like, foundational moment for rock and roll, 00:11:48.440 --> 00:11:51.259 was actually dominated by gospel songs. Almost 00:11:51.259 --> 00:11:53.179 half the recordings are gospel. That's a great 00:11:53.179 --> 00:11:55.139 point. And Cash later wrote about how he felt 00:11:55.139 --> 00:11:58.000 almost intimidated in that room. He stood farthest 00:11:58.000 --> 00:11:59.720 from the microphone and sang in a higher pitch, 00:11:59.879 --> 00:12:01.960 just trying to blend in with Elvis. It's such 00:12:01.960 --> 00:12:04.059 a revealing detail, isn't it, about his constant 00:12:04.059 --> 00:12:06.200 struggle for identity, even when he's in a room 00:12:06.200 --> 00:12:09.059 with giants. Absolutely. But despite all that 00:12:09.059 --> 00:12:12.490 success, he felt stifled at sun. He leaves for 00:12:12.490 --> 00:12:15.629 Columbia Records in 1958, which was a huge move 00:12:15.629 --> 00:12:17.549 that would define the next 30 years of his career. 00:12:17.789 --> 00:12:20.909 So why the split? It seems like it was both creative 00:12:20.909 --> 00:12:25.250 and financial. It was. First, Phillips stubbornly 00:12:25.250 --> 00:12:28.009 refused to let him record gospel, which for Cash 00:12:28.009 --> 00:12:30.769 was just non -negotiable. Second, the money. 00:12:30.889 --> 00:12:33.769 He was only getting a 3 % royalty rate when the 00:12:33.769 --> 00:12:36.679 standard was closer to 5%. He felt shortchanged. 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:39.340 And on top of that, he felt Phillips was putting 00:12:39.340 --> 00:12:42.139 all his energy into promoting Jerry Lee Lewis. 00:12:42.340 --> 00:12:45.480 So he bolts to Columbia, has huge hits like Don't 00:12:45.480 --> 00:12:47.679 Take Your Guns to Town. He finally gets to record 00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:51.399 his gospel albums. But Phillips had such a backlog 00:12:51.399 --> 00:12:54.279 of unreleased Cash material. That for years, 00:12:54.279 --> 00:12:57.720 until 1964, Cash was in this bizarre position 00:12:57.720 --> 00:13:00.759 of having new releases coming out on. Two major 00:13:00.759 --> 00:13:02.899 labels at the same time. Talk about market confusion. 00:13:03.179 --> 00:13:05.220 It speaks to his incredible output, but that 00:13:05.220 --> 00:13:07.539 success also coincided with his life just starting 00:13:07.539 --> 00:13:09.679 to spiral into darkness. Which brings us to the 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:11.639 man in black image. Which ironically started 00:13:11.639 --> 00:13:14.419 out as just pure pragmatism. Right. Early on, 00:13:14.440 --> 00:13:16.580 they nicknamed him the undertaker for the black 00:13:16.580 --> 00:13:19.200 clothes. But he admitted he just chose black 00:13:19.200 --> 00:13:21.440 because it was easier to keep looking clean on 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:24.440 long tours. But that practicality vanished as 00:13:24.440 --> 00:13:26.659 the rebellion and the chaos took over, and it 00:13:26.659 --> 00:13:29.720 was all fueled by addiction. As his touring schedule 00:13:29.720 --> 00:13:32.039 got more and more grueling, he started drinking 00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:34.320 heavily and got hooked on a really dangerous 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:36.879 cocktail of prescription drugs. The main ones 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:39.840 were amphetamines, specifically dexedrine, to 00:13:39.840 --> 00:13:42.799 stay awake for days on end. And then barbiturates 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:45.299 like Equinel to knock himself out and sleep. 00:13:45.500 --> 00:13:48.029 It's a vicious cycle. He even lived with Waylon 00:13:48.029 --> 00:13:50.110 Jennings for a while in Nashville in an apartment 00:13:50.110 --> 00:13:52.590 they called the Den of Iniquity because of their 00:13:52.590 --> 00:13:55.669 shared amphetamine use. But that internal chaos 00:13:55.669 --> 00:13:58.710 was also feeding his art. It sure was. Take Ring 00:13:58.710 --> 00:14:02.429 of Fire from 1963. Massive crossover hit. The 00:14:02.429 --> 00:14:04.809 origin story for that song is just steeped in 00:14:04.809 --> 00:14:07.049 contradiction. That's the perfect word. Cash 00:14:07.049 --> 00:14:09.309 always claimed that the signature mariachi horn 00:14:09.309 --> 00:14:12.110 part came to him fully formed in a dream. But 00:14:12.110 --> 00:14:14.830 his first wife, Vivian Liberto, she had a much 00:14:14.830 --> 00:14:17.710 different, much more cynical story. In her memoir, 00:14:17.830 --> 00:14:20.710 she claimed Cash gave June Carter half the songwriting 00:14:20.710 --> 00:14:22.970 credit for purely financial reasons, a business 00:14:22.970 --> 00:14:25.409 decision. So you've got this song that's all 00:14:25.409 --> 00:14:28.210 about falling into the temptation of love, but 00:14:28.210 --> 00:14:30.889 its very creation is tangled up in personal and 00:14:30.889 --> 00:14:34.519 financial deceit. That duality is the essence 00:14:34.519 --> 00:14:36.919 of his public life. While he's crafting this 00:14:36.919 --> 00:14:40.340 romantic outlaw image, his life is just descending 00:14:40.340 --> 00:14:43.220 into a series of real -life but mostly minor 00:14:43.220 --> 00:14:45.580 legal problems. Right. He cultivated the image, 00:14:45.720 --> 00:14:48.320 but it's so important to remember he never served 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:51.440 a real prison sentence. He was jailed seven times, 00:14:51.460 --> 00:14:54.220 but only held overnight for misdemeanors. Let's 00:14:54.220 --> 00:14:56.720 highlight the two most famous incidents. First, 00:14:56.879 --> 00:15:00.759 the Starkville incident in 1965. May 11, 1965. 00:15:01.870 --> 00:15:04.029 arrested in Starkville, Mississippi for trespassing. 00:15:04.389 --> 00:15:06.529 And what was he doing? He was picking flowers 00:15:06.529 --> 00:15:08.529 late at night on private property. Sounds almost 00:15:08.529 --> 00:15:11.389 comical. It does. But he spent the night in jail. 00:15:11.669 --> 00:15:14.029 And that experience directly inspired his song 00:15:14.029 --> 00:15:17.029 Starkville City Jail. And then later that same 00:15:17.029 --> 00:15:19.230 year, the one that really showed the public how 00:15:19.230 --> 00:15:21.909 bad the addiction crisis was, the El Paso arrest. 00:15:22.370 --> 00:15:26.129 October 4th, 1965. He's arrested by a narcotics 00:15:26.129 --> 00:15:28.750 squad. They suspected he was smuggling drugs 00:15:28.750 --> 00:15:31.440 from Mexico. And they found this shocking amount 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:35.600 of pills in his guitar case, 688 dexedrine and 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:38.980 475 equinol tablets. An incredible quantity. 00:15:39.240 --> 00:15:41.440 But because they were prescription, he got off 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:43.559 with a suspended sentence. He did, but the sheer 00:15:43.559 --> 00:15:46.559 number of pills just laid bare the depth of his 00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:48.940 physical dependence. And if you need one single 00:15:48.940 --> 00:15:51.519 story that captures the pure recklessness of 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:54.940 this period, it has to be the infamous 1965 camper 00:15:54.940 --> 00:15:57.860 fire. This event is just astounding. He's on 00:15:57.860 --> 00:15:59.960 a fishing trip in Las Padres National Forest 00:15:59.960 --> 00:16:03.059 in California. His camper catches fire, and it 00:16:03.059 --> 00:16:05.220 leads to this massive forest fire that burns 00:16:05.220 --> 00:16:08.639 508 acres. The foliage off three entire mountains. 00:16:08.940 --> 00:16:11.279 And the biological impact was catastrophic. It 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:13.679 drove off nearly all of the endangered California 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:17.220 condors from that refuge. 49 out of 53 of them. 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:19.720 And Cash's response in court just cemented his 00:16:19.720 --> 00:16:22.539 outlaw legend, but not in a good way. When the 00:16:22.539 --> 00:16:24.740 judge questioned him, Cash, high and defiant, 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:26.940 gave that infamous quote. I don't care about 00:16:26.940 --> 00:16:29.399 your damn yellow buzzards. Unbelievable. The 00:16:29.399 --> 00:16:31.340 federal government sued him, and he eventually 00:16:31.340 --> 00:16:35.419 had to settle for over $82 ,000. It's such a 00:16:35.419 --> 00:16:37.620 destructive chapter. And all this destruction 00:16:37.620 --> 00:16:41.320 finally forces a turning point. He divorces Vivian 00:16:41.320 --> 00:16:45.159 Liberto in 1966, citing his drug -at -least adultery 00:16:45.159 --> 00:16:47.240 and, of course, his deepening relationship with 00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:49.799 June Carter. The final breaking point seems to 00:16:49.799 --> 00:16:53.179 be his last arrest in 1967 in Lafayette, Georgia. 00:16:53.580 --> 00:16:56.080 After a car accident, police find him with prescription 00:16:56.080 --> 00:16:58.320 pills again. And he was desperate. The sources 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:00.659 say he tried to bribe the deputy, who just refused 00:17:00.659 --> 00:17:03.159 money. He spent the night in jail. But the real 00:17:03.159 --> 00:17:05.539 change came from a long, serious talk he had 00:17:05.539 --> 00:17:08.900 with the sheriff, Ralph Jones. Cash himself credited 00:17:08.900 --> 00:17:11.059 that conversation, that moment of human kindness, 00:17:11.240 --> 00:17:13.380 with helping him finally choose to get his life 00:17:13.380 --> 00:17:15.880 together. So after that, the Carters June, her 00:17:15.880 --> 00:17:18.500 mother Mabel, her father Ezra, they all move 00:17:18.500 --> 00:17:20.579 into his mansion for a month to help him detox. 00:17:21.019 --> 00:17:23.579 And June was unwavering. He proposed to her on 00:17:23.579 --> 00:17:26.720 stage in London, Ontario in February 68. They 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:28.940 married a week later. But she insisted it would 00:17:28.940 --> 00:17:31.559 only happen if he cleaned up. Now, here's a critical 00:17:31.559 --> 00:17:33.819 detail that really highlights the long shadow 00:17:33.819 --> 00:17:36.559 of addiction. Despite getting married in 68, 00:17:36.759 --> 00:17:38.920 he didn't completely stop using amphetamines 00:17:38.920 --> 00:17:41.740 then. No. He didn't get fully clean until 1970, 00:17:42.200 --> 00:17:44.900 inspired by the birth of their son, John Carter 00:17:44.900 --> 00:17:48.009 Cash. And even that wasn't the end. He had a 00:17:48.009 --> 00:17:50.769 seven -year clean period, then relapsed in 77, 00:17:51.089 --> 00:17:55.269 and again badly in 83. Multiple public rehab 00:17:55.269 --> 00:17:59.150 stints. Betty Ford Clinic, Loma Linda. June stayed 00:17:59.150 --> 00:18:01.309 with him through it all, flushing his pills down 00:18:01.309 --> 00:18:03.869 the toilet. He had that chillingly self -aware 00:18:03.869 --> 00:18:07.109 quote later. I was taking the pills for a while, 00:18:07.210 --> 00:18:09.799 and then the pills started taking me. And that 00:18:09.799 --> 00:18:12.720 relentless cycle, sin, struggle, relapse and 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:15.359 redemption is what defined the next most famous 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:17.579 stage of his career. Right. If the first half 00:18:17.579 --> 00:18:20.079 of the 60s was his internal crisis, the late 00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:22.160 60s and 70s were about turning that experience 00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:24.420 outward, turning that personal darkness into 00:18:24.420 --> 00:18:27.079 a public mission. And the venue for that was 00:18:27.079 --> 00:18:29.119 the American prison system. He'd been playing 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:30.859 prisons for a while. His first big one was at 00:18:30.859 --> 00:18:33.460 San Quentin back in 1958. This was never a PR 00:18:33.460 --> 00:18:36.099 stunt for him. It was a genuine affinity. And 00:18:36.099 --> 00:18:38.819 the recordings were just monumental. Johnny Cash 00:18:38.819 --> 00:18:41.599 at Folsom Prison in 68 and at San Quentin in 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:43.900 69. They weren't just albums. They were cultural 00:18:43.900 --> 00:18:46.660 events. Huge. Both hit number one on the country 00:18:46.660 --> 00:18:49.059 charts. And San Quentin crossed over and topped 00:18:49.059 --> 00:18:51.619 the pop charts, too. It had that huge novelty 00:18:51.619 --> 00:18:55.940 hit, A Boy Named Sue. In 1969, Johnny Cash was 00:18:55.940 --> 00:18:58.420 so big he was actually outselling the Beatles. 00:18:58.759 --> 00:19:02.460 He sold 6 .5 million albums that year. That's 00:19:02.460 --> 00:19:04.880 staggering cultural dominance. And it came from 00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:07.440 a recording made inside a prison. And his commitment 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:09.460 wasn't just in the U .S. He performed at a prison 00:19:09.460 --> 00:19:12.539 in Sweden in 72, released an album from it. He 00:19:12.539 --> 00:19:15.099 was sending a clear message. These people are 00:19:15.099 --> 00:19:17.289 human. They deserve to be seen. This commitment 00:19:17.289 --> 00:19:19.390 to the marginalized extended beyond prisoners, 00:19:19.529 --> 00:19:22.210 too. He had this complex patriotism. He was a 00:19:22.210 --> 00:19:24.549 huge supporter of his nephew, a decorated naval 00:19:24.549 --> 00:19:28.059 officer. Yes, Captain Roy Outlaw Cash Jr. And 00:19:28.059 --> 00:19:30.119 there's that great detail about the Lost Concert 00:19:30.119 --> 00:19:33.220 in 1975, a private show he did for a military 00:19:33.220 --> 00:19:35.779 audience at the Naval War College. He was fiercely 00:19:35.779 --> 00:19:38.059 anti -establishment on social issues, but also 00:19:38.059 --> 00:19:41.019 deeply respectful of military service. And nowhere 00:19:41.019 --> 00:19:43.519 is that activism more visible than in his fight 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:46.099 for Native American rights. This was incredibly 00:19:46.099 --> 00:19:48.640 controversial for a country star in the 1960s. 00:19:48.680 --> 00:19:51.460 It was. Mainstream country was becoming more 00:19:51.460 --> 00:19:53.799 and more conservative, and here he was singing 00:19:53.799 --> 00:19:56.839 songs about Indian tragedy and settler violence. 00:19:57.480 --> 00:20:00.839 In 1964, he releases the concept album Bitter 00:20:00.839 --> 00:20:04.180 Tears, ballads of the American Indian. It was 00:20:04.180 --> 00:20:06.700 a history lesson set to music. Stories of the 00:20:06.700 --> 00:20:10.319 Pima, Navajo, Lakota, Seneca peoples. Many of 00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:12.400 the protest songs were written by the folk artist 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:15.240 Peter Lafarge. And the industry pushed back hard. 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:18.640 Columbia, his own label, thought it was too radical. 00:20:18.990 --> 00:20:21.769 Radio stations refused to play the single, The 00:20:21.769 --> 00:20:24.829 Ballad of Ira Hayes, calling the subject unappealing. 00:20:24.930 --> 00:20:26.609 They tried to silence him, and this is where 00:20:26.609 --> 00:20:28.789 Cash showed his power. He fought back. He took 00:20:28.789 --> 00:20:30.990 out a full -page ad in Billboard magazine. A 00:20:30.990 --> 00:20:33.690 scathing ad. He just called them out. DJ, station 00:20:33.690 --> 00:20:36.490 managers, owners, wear your guts. He called the 00:20:36.490 --> 00:20:38.910 song Strong Medicine and compared it to the struggles 00:20:38.910 --> 00:20:41.269 in Birmingham and Vietnam. And it worked. The 00:20:41.269 --> 00:20:43.230 song ended up reaching number three on the country 00:20:43.230 --> 00:20:45.109 charts. He literally forced the conversation. 00:20:45.569 --> 00:20:50.069 And his commitment was real. In 1966, he was 00:20:50.069 --> 00:20:52.009 formally adopted by the Seneca Nation's Turtle 00:20:52.009 --> 00:20:54.430 Clan. He was putting his actions where his mouth 00:20:54.430 --> 00:20:56.410 was. He used his biggest mainstream platform, 00:20:56.710 --> 00:20:58.650 The Johnny Cash Show, to continue that work. 00:20:58.789 --> 00:21:02.309 The show ran from 69 to 71, filmed at the Ryman. 00:21:02.450 --> 00:21:04.589 And he used that show to radically diversify 00:21:04.589 --> 00:21:06.950 the voices people were hearing on TV. The guest 00:21:06.950 --> 00:21:10.170 list is incredible. Louis Armstrong, Neil Young, 00:21:10.269 --> 00:21:13.910 James Taylor. He gave Linda Ronstadt her first 00:21:13.910 --> 00:21:16.470 TV appearance. And most famously, he hosted the 00:21:16.470 --> 00:21:19.430 reclusive Bob Dylan. He was instrumental in pulling 00:21:19.430 --> 00:21:21.710 Dylan back into the public eye. They even sang 00:21:21.710 --> 00:21:24.220 a duet. And the show gave us that legendary moment 00:21:24.220 --> 00:21:27.259 of defiance. Network execs wanted him to censor 00:21:27.259 --> 00:21:29.440 a line in Kris Kristofferson's song Sunday Morning 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:32.019 Coming Down. The line was, I'm wishing Lord that 00:21:32.019 --> 00:21:34.460 I was stoned. And Cash just refused outright. 00:21:34.680 --> 00:21:36.559 When the show aired, he made a point of singing 00:21:36.559 --> 00:21:39.559 the line exactly as written. It defined his public 00:21:39.559 --> 00:21:41.779 integrity. It perfectly embodied that man in 00:21:41.779 --> 00:21:44.720 black persona. By the early 70s, the black wardrobe 00:21:44.720 --> 00:21:47.119 wasn't just practical anymore. It was a statement. 00:21:47.319 --> 00:21:50.440 He defined it in the song Man in Black. He said 00:21:50.440 --> 00:21:52.720 he wore it in mourning for the suffering of the 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:56.180 world, the poor, the prisoners, those affected 00:21:56.180 --> 00:21:58.319 by the Vietnam War. He said he stopped wearing 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:01.559 black when things got right. He added, apart 00:22:01.559 --> 00:22:03.819 from the Vietnam War being over, I don't see 00:22:03.819 --> 00:22:06.880 much reason to change. That conviction led to 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:09.619 his most famous political confrontation, performing 00:22:09.619 --> 00:22:11.759 for President Richard Nixon at the White House 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:15.519 in 1970. Nixon's staff had a very specific politically 00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:19.140 charged request list. They wanted Okie from Muskogee. 00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:22.940 and Welfare Cadillac, songs with anti -hippie 00:22:22.940 --> 00:22:25.720 and anti -black sentiments. And Cash simply refused 00:22:25.720 --> 00:22:28.000 to play them. He claimed he didn't know them 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:30.339 well enough, but really he knew playing them 00:22:30.339 --> 00:22:33.019 would be dishonest to his beliefs. Instead, he 00:22:33.019 --> 00:22:35.559 performed his protest songs, The Ballad of Ira 00:22:35.559 --> 00:22:38.619 Hayes, What Is Truth, and, very pointedly, Man 00:22:38.619 --> 00:22:41.380 in Black. It was a direct, peaceful confrontation 00:22:41.380 --> 00:22:44.220 with power. And Nixon, to his credit, kind of 00:22:44.220 --> 00:22:46.440 got it. He joked later that he learned, you don't 00:22:46.440 --> 00:22:48.839 tell Johnny Cash what to sing. It just crystallized 00:22:48.839 --> 00:22:51.000 his public identity, didn't it? A conservative 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:54.039 Christian who was also a radical activist. It's 00:22:54.039 --> 00:22:56.500 that paradox again. But despite his cultural 00:22:56.500 --> 00:23:00.000 significance, by the early 80s, the hit songs 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:03.880 were drying up. His career at Columbia was stagnating, 00:23:03.940 --> 00:23:05.880 even though he'd been inducted into the Country 00:23:05.880 --> 00:23:08.900 Music Hall of Fame in 1980. The 80s were a rough 00:23:08.900 --> 00:23:12.200 decade for him. Creative frustration and serious 00:23:12.200 --> 00:23:15.559 physical setbacks, including the ostrich attack 00:23:15.559 --> 00:23:19.240 in 1983. It sounds like a joke, but it was horrifyingly 00:23:19.240 --> 00:23:22.380 real. He was on his farm, an ostrich kicked him, 00:23:22.440 --> 00:23:24.900 and it caused a severe abdominal injury. And 00:23:24.900 --> 00:23:28.900 the surgery, the painkillers, it led to another 00:23:28.900 --> 00:23:31.680 relapse into addiction, a major setback. It was. 00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:34.579 But professionally, he found a lifeline. He teamed 00:23:34.579 --> 00:23:36.579 up with three other giants to form the Highwaymen. 00:23:36.809 --> 00:23:39.490 Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris 00:23:39.490 --> 00:23:41.769 Kristofferson, one of the biggest supergroups 00:23:41.769 --> 00:23:44.130 in country music history. And they were a huge 00:23:44.130 --> 00:23:46.269 commercial success. They released three hit albums. 00:23:46.470 --> 00:23:48.970 It was vital for him. It kept him touring, recording, 00:23:49.230 --> 00:23:51.609 and relevant, even though his solo stuff wasn't 00:23:51.609 --> 00:23:53.789 charting. His frustration with Columbia, though, 00:23:53.890 --> 00:23:56.390 it led to that infamous, bizarre moment in his 00:23:56.390 --> 00:23:59.009 career. The novelty song, The Chicken in Black, 00:23:59.170 --> 00:24:02.569 in 1984. The song is about his brain being transplanted 00:24:02.569 --> 00:24:05.470 into a chicken. It's deeply weird. Yeah. The 00:24:05.470 --> 00:24:08.170 popular story is that he recorded it as a protest 00:24:08.170 --> 00:24:10.750 against Columbia. But the sources, particularly 00:24:10.750 --> 00:24:13.549 his biographer Robert Hilburn, say that's not 00:24:13.549 --> 00:24:16.089 quite right. He says Cash actually loved the 00:24:16.089 --> 00:24:18.890 idea at first. He even filmed a comedic music 00:24:18.890 --> 00:24:21.670 video for it, dressed in this ridiculous superhero 00:24:21.670 --> 00:24:24.349 costume. What stopped it was Waylon Jennings. 00:24:24.650 --> 00:24:27.150 He saw the video and told Cash he looked like 00:24:27.150 --> 00:24:30.450 a buffoon. And Cash was so mortified he demanded 00:24:30.450 --> 00:24:33.230 Columbia pull the single. It was less a protest 00:24:33.230 --> 00:24:36.529 and more just a... a deeply embarrassing misstep. 00:24:36.730 --> 00:24:39.569 So after that, he finally left Columbia in 1985, 00:24:39.849 --> 00:24:42.190 and he turned heavily toward religious works. 00:24:42.349 --> 00:24:44.829 He published his only novel, Man in White, about 00:24:44.829 --> 00:24:47.309 the Apostle Paul. He even recorded an audio version 00:24:47.309 --> 00:24:49.509 of the entire New Testament. He was really trying 00:24:49.509 --> 00:24:52.009 to ground himself spiritually, but his recording 00:24:52.009 --> 00:24:54.289 career was basically flat until this unlikely 00:24:54.289 --> 00:24:56.390 figure from the complete opposite end of the 00:24:56.390 --> 00:24:59.130 music world stepped in to resurrect him, Rick 00:24:59.130 --> 00:25:01.230 Rubin. And this is where the great final act 00:25:01.230 --> 00:25:04.160 begins. After a failed skint at Mercury Records, 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:07.980 Cash was considered a relic. But Rick Rubin, 00:25:08.099 --> 00:25:10.980 who was famous for producing rap and hard rock, 00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:13.460 signed him to his American Recordings label. 00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:16.660 And Rubin's vision was just radical in its simplicity. 00:25:16.900 --> 00:25:19.940 He stripped everything away. Everything. He had 00:25:19.940 --> 00:25:23.319 Cash record the album American Recordings acoustically, 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:25.859 mostly in his own living room with just his guitar. 00:25:26.380 --> 00:25:29.299 The focus was entirely on the voice and the story. 00:25:29.460 --> 00:25:32.000 It was completely unexpected, and it reintroduced 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:34.700 Cash to a whole new generation. It won a Grammy 00:25:34.700 --> 00:25:37.640 for Best Contemporary Folk Album. It proved that 00:25:37.640 --> 00:25:40.319 authenticity beats production every time. And 00:25:40.319 --> 00:25:42.099 this renaissance led to all these incredible 00:25:42.099 --> 00:25:45.200 collaborations. He sang on a U2 album. He worked 00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:47.039 with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on the album 00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:49.680 Unchained, which won him a Grammy for Best Country 00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:52.200 Album. The irony. He finally wins Best Country 00:25:52.200 --> 00:25:54.339 Album after challenging the genre for his entire 00:25:54.339 --> 00:25:57.289 career. This recognition came just as his health 00:25:57.289 --> 00:26:01.430 started to seriously fail. In 1997, he was misdiagnosed 00:26:01.430 --> 00:26:03.930 with Shydrager syndrome, and doctors told him 00:26:03.930 --> 00:26:06.089 he had about 18 months to live. That was later 00:26:06.089 --> 00:26:08.430 corrected to autonomic neuropathy from diabetes, 00:26:08.650 --> 00:26:11.190 but it still basically ended his touring career. 00:26:11.430 --> 00:26:13.089 He was in and out of the hospital, but he just 00:26:13.089 --> 00:26:14.809 became more and more prolific in the studio. 00:26:15.329 --> 00:26:17.609 And that intensity led to American the Fourth. 00:26:17.930 --> 00:26:20.779 The man comes around in 2002. Which had those 00:26:20.779 --> 00:26:23.839 stunning final recordings, his covers of Depeche 00:26:23.839 --> 00:26:26.359 Mode's Personal Jesus and, of course, Nine Inch 00:26:26.359 --> 00:26:30.180 Nails Hurt. Trent Reznor, who wrote Hurt, said 00:26:30.180 --> 00:26:32.900 he was skeptical at first. But when he heard 00:26:32.900 --> 00:26:35.420 Cash's version and saw the video, he said he 00:26:35.420 --> 00:26:37.700 was just blown away. He called it a magnificent 00:26:37.700 --> 00:26:40.369 achievement. And the video for Hurt became this 00:26:40.369 --> 00:26:43.170 absolute cultural touchstone. It juxtaposed the 00:26:43.170 --> 00:26:45.630 frail, aging Cash with images of his youthful 00:26:45.630 --> 00:26:48.650 chaos. It earned him a Grammy and an MTV VMA 00:26:48.650 --> 00:26:51.269 nomination. He was the oldest artist ever nominated 00:26:51.269 --> 00:26:53.710 for a VMA. And Justin Timberlake, when he won 00:26:53.710 --> 00:26:56.049 that year, he used his acceptance speech to demand 00:26:56.049 --> 00:26:58.269 a recount, saying Cash deserved it more than 00:26:58.269 --> 00:27:00.549 anyone. It was this incredible validation from 00:27:00.549 --> 00:27:03.470 the modern music world. But then, tragedy. On 00:27:03.470 --> 00:27:07.170 May 15, 2003, June Carter Cash died. She had 00:27:07.170 --> 00:27:09.470 been his anchor for decades. He was shattered. 00:27:09.769 --> 00:27:11.789 But she had made him promise to keep working. 00:27:11.930 --> 00:27:15.210 So he did. He recorded 60 songs in his final 00:27:15.210 --> 00:27:17.710 four months. He said music was the only reason 00:27:17.710 --> 00:27:19.710 he had left to live. His last public performance 00:27:19.710 --> 00:27:23.390 was just heartbreaking. July 5, 2003, before 00:27:23.390 --> 00:27:26.250 singing Ring of Fire, he read this moving statement 00:27:26.250 --> 00:27:29.599 about June. He said, The spirit of June Carter 00:27:29.599 --> 00:27:32.339 overshadows me tonight. She came down for a short 00:27:32.339 --> 00:27:34.220 visit, I guess, from heaven to visit with me 00:27:34.220 --> 00:27:36.539 tonight to give me courage and inspiration like 00:27:36.539 --> 00:27:39.420 she always has. It's just so raw and vulnerable. 00:27:39.740 --> 00:27:41.960 He died less than four months later on September 00:27:41.960 --> 00:27:45.859 12, 2003. His very last completed song, recorded 00:27:45.859 --> 00:27:49.279 just a few weeks earlier, was Engine 143, a final, 00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:52.200 perfect coda. When you look at his entire life, 00:27:52.599 --> 00:27:55.619 His cultural status is just unparalleled, and 00:27:55.619 --> 00:27:57.640 it's reflected in that unique triple crossover 00:27:57.640 --> 00:28:00.000 recognition he received. Right. He's one of the 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:01.839 only artists inducted into the Country Music 00:28:01.839 --> 00:28:03.640 Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 00:28:03.660 --> 00:28:05.940 and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. That spread 00:28:05.940 --> 00:28:08.940 of influence from sacred to rebellion, that's 00:28:08.940 --> 00:28:11.380 the man right there. And his influence went so 00:28:11.380 --> 00:28:14.049 far beyond just music. The sources make this 00:28:14.049 --> 00:28:16.990 fascinating connection to Bob Dylan. Cash's willingness 00:28:16.990 --> 00:28:19.549 to use an electric guitar at folk festivals and 00:28:19.549 --> 00:28:22.250 his defense of artistic freedom really influenced 00:28:22.250 --> 00:28:24.609 Dylan's own controversial decision to go electric. 00:28:24.869 --> 00:28:27.390 And his presence just continues. All the posthumous 00:28:27.390 --> 00:28:30.809 releases, American V, American 6. There's a new 00:28:30.809 --> 00:28:33.049 compilation of old demos announced for 2024. 00:28:33.750 --> 00:28:36.990 The work just keeps coming. His life was the 00:28:36.990 --> 00:28:40.390 ultimate paradox. The man who wore black to mourn 00:28:40.390 --> 00:28:42.490 suffering was also responsible for a massive... 00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:44.720 a forest fire. The man who battled addiction 00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:47.259 for decades was also an ordained minister who 00:28:47.259 --> 00:28:49.720 wrote a novel about the Apostle Paul. He admitted 00:28:49.720 --> 00:28:52.500 it himself. He called himself a deeply complicated 00:28:52.500 --> 00:28:54.680 and contradictory man and the biggest sinner 00:28:54.680 --> 00:28:56.960 of them all. But the public never saw him as 00:28:56.960 --> 00:28:59.700 a fraud. They saw him as authentic. And what 00:28:59.700 --> 00:29:02.440 stands out is the enduring love for this intensely 00:29:02.440 --> 00:29:05.039 flawed figure, someone who constantly battled 00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:07.099 his demons, who relapsed his struggle with guilt, 00:29:07.140 --> 00:29:09.799 but at the same time used his fame to champion 00:29:09.799 --> 00:29:37.799 the marginalized. It's a great question. Does 00:29:37.799 --> 00:29:40.450 the struggle... validate the message. Something 00:29:40.450 --> 00:29:41.029 to think about.