Cash was born on February 26, 1932, in Kingsland, Arkansas, to Carrie Cloveree (née Rivers) and Ray Cash. He had three older siblings named Roy, Margaret Louise, and Jack, as well as three younger siblings named Reba, Joanne, and Tommy (who also became successful country artists). He was primarily of English and Scottish ancestry.
His paternal grandmother also claimed Cherokee ancestry, but a DNA test of Cash’s daughter Rosanne revealed no known Native American markers.
After meeting the then-laird of Falkland, Major Michael Crichton-Stuart, he traced his Scottish surname back to 11th-century Fife. Cash Loch and other locations in Fife bear his surname. He is a distant cousin of British Conservative politician Sir William Cash. His mother wanted to name him John, but his father preferred Ray, so J. R. was the only compromise they could agree on.
Cash was not allowed to use initials as a first name when he enlisted in the Air Force, so he changed it to John R. Cash. When he signed with Sun Records in 1955, he began using the name Johnny Cash.
Who is Johnny Cash’s wife June Carter Cash?
While on tour, Cash met June of the famous Carter Family, and the two fell in love. Cash proposed to June during a live performance in London, Ontario, thirteen years after they first met backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. On March 1, 1968, the couple married in Franklin, Kentucky. John Carter Cash, their only child, was born on March 3, 1970.
Johnny and June both had only one son. In addition to his four daughters and John Carter, Cash became a stepfather to Carlene and Rosie, June’s daughters from her first two marriages, to honky-tonk singer Carl Smith and former police officer, football player, and race-car driver Edwin “Rip” Nix, respectively. Cash and Carter worked, raised their child, made music, and toured together for 35 years until June died in May 2003.
