June Carter Cash

  • Hiltons, VA
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  • Country
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  • 1939
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About June Carter Cash


Songwriter, singer, actress, comedienne, and matriarch of country music June Carter Cash was born Valerie June Carter in Maces Springs, VA, on June 23, 1929. Taught by her mother (the legendary Mother Maybelle Carter of the Carter Family) to play autoharp, June entered the spotlight in 1937 singing with her sisters Helen and Anita, eventually performing as the Carter Sisters after the death of June's uncle A.P. Her good humor and quick wit prompted June to perform comedy skits and monologues during the show, and led to a novelty recording of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with country comics Homer & Jethro which eventually hit number nine on the country charts in 1949.

In 1952, Carter married Carl Smith, with whom she performed at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, and their daughter, Rebecca Carlene (later to record under the name Carlene Carter), was born in 1955. After their divorce in the late '50s, Carter was managed by Colonel Tom Parker and toured with Elvis Presley, and while living in Nashville, she met and briefly married local police officer Rip Nix with whom she another daughter, Rosie. Although Carter dabbled in acting during the '50s, she returned to the musical stage in 1961 when the Carters joined Johnny Cash's road show. Rumor has it that Cash had kept an eye on June since her appearances with the Carter Sisters in the early '50s, commenting, "I'm going to marry that girl someday" (despite the fact that both of them were still married to other people at the time). In 1963, Carter co-wrote the song "Ring of Fire" with Merle Kilgore, which Cash (supposedly June's inspiration for the song) took to number one. Their Grammy-winning duet "Jackson" came true when Cash and Carter "got married in a fever hotter than a pepper sprout" in 1968. Cash has long credited June for forcing him to shake his addiction to amphetamines and encouraging his spiritual development, saying, "she is the person responsible for me still being alive. She came along at a time in my life when I was going to self-destruct." Another Grammy (for "If I Were a Carpenter") and the birth of Carter's third child, son John Carter Cash, followed in 1970.

June Carter Cash left the spotlight for most of the '70s and '80s, stating, "I worked with John, but I had enough sense to walk just a little ways behind him. I could have made more records, but I wanted to have a marriage." She did, however, write two autobiographies (1979's Among My Klediments and 1987's From My Heart) and also did some acting, notably on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and alongside Robert Duvall in The Apostle. She did eventually return to recording, releasing a collection of both traditional folk songs and Carter Cash originals entitled Press On in 1999 which won a Grammy for best traditional folk album. Johnny Cash's health seemed to deteriorate throughout the '90s just as his career went through a renaissance, and many fans were shocked when June Carter Cash died suddenly on May 15, 2003, following complications from heart surgery. Given the fact that she had remained apparently rock solid as he got weaker and weaker, it seemed as though Johnny might pass on, but Carter Cash would live forever. Luckily, she does live on today; through the children she raised (many of whom have become musicians themselves), through her writing and appearances on film, through the contributions she made to her husband's life, and most clearly in the music she left behind. ~ Zac Johnson, Rovi

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Music

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  • Keep On The Sunny Side
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    Keep On The Sunny Side
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    • Wildwood Flower
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/8/7/1/8/5/107458178.mp3
    • Jackson
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/9/2/1/7/4/107447129.mp3
    • Time's A Wastin'
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/4/8/4/0/1/326010484.mp3
    • Keep on the Sunny Side
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/9/8/0/7/4/107447089.mp3
    • Keep on the Sunny Side
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/4/9/1/7/4/107447194.mp3
    • Will The Circle Be Unbroken
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/6/4/3/7/4/107447346.mp3

Photos

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  • June Carter Cash
    June Carter Cash
    June Carter Cash
  • Johnny Cash with wife June Carter and son John wait in the Copenhagen, Denmark, airport before beginning his Scandinavian tour in 1971.
    June Carter Cash
    Johnny Cash with wife June Carter and son John wait in the Copenhagen, Denmark, airport before beginning his Scandinavian tour in 1971.
    Hulton Archive/Getty Images
  • Johnny Cash with wife June Carter and son John travel through Glasgow, Scotland, in September 1971.
    June Carter Cash
    Johnny Cash with wife June Carter and son John travel through Glasgow, Scotland, in September 1971.
    Hulton Archive/Getty Images
  • Country singer Johnny Cash exits the Kansas State Prison with wife June Carter in 1968.
    June Carter Cash
    Country singer Johnny Cash exits the Kansas State Prison with wife June Carter in 1968.
    Hulton Archive/Getty Images
  • Johnny Cash invites friends Waylon Jennings (left), Jessi Colter, wife June Carter and Ray Charles to pose for a promotional portrait for his television special <I>Johnny Cash: Spring Fever</I> on April 14, 1978.
    June Carter Cash
    Johnny Cash invites friends Waylon Jennings (left), Jessi Colter, wife June Carter and Ray Charles to pose for a promotional portrait for his television special Johnny Cash: Spring Fever on April 14, 1978.
    Hulton Archive/Getty Images
  • June Carter Cash accepts the Johnny Cash tribute award at the 2003 CMT Flameworthy Video Music Awards in Nashville, Tenn.
    June Carter Cash
    June Carter Cash accepts the Johnny Cash tribute award at the 2003 CMT Flameworthy Video Music Awards in Nashville, Tenn.
    Rusty Russell/Getty Images
  • June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash perform on his television show in 1969.
    June Carter Cash
    June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash perform on his television show in 1969.
    J. T. Phillips
  • June Carter Cash
  • June Carter Cash
    June Carter Cash
    June Carter Cash
  • June Carter Cash
    June Carter Cash
    June Carter Cash

News

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  • June Carter Cash
    The Life and Times of Chet Flippo
    CMT News
    June 19, 2013
    Journalist's Friends Remember His Integrity and Insight
    Read More
  • June Carter Cash
    The Life and Times of Chet Flippo
    CMT News
    June 19, 2013
    Journalist's Friends Remember His Integrity and Insight
    Read More
  • June Carter Cash
    Jay-Z's Magna Carta Going Platinum? Not So Fast
    MTV News
    June 18, 2013
    Nielsen SoundScan does not count bulk sales, which could impact how the album charts after Samsung's download give-aways.
    Read More
  • June Carter Cash
    Jay-Z's Magna Carta Going Platinum? Not So Fast
    MTV News
    June 18, 2013
    Nielsen SoundScan does not count bulk sales, which could impact how the album charts after Samsung's download give-aways.
    Read More
  • June Carter Cash
    Lil Wayne 'Never Intended' To Desecrate American Flag
    MTV News
    June 18, 2013
    'The clip that surfaced on the Internet was a camera trick,' Weezy says in heartfelt statement after outcry over him stepping on stars and stripes.
    Read More
  • June Carter Cash
    Lil Wayne 'Never Intended' To Desecrate American Flag
    MTV News
    June 18, 2013
    'The clip that surfaced on the Internet was a camera trick,' Weezy says in heartfelt statement after outcry over him stepping on stars and stripes.
    Read More
  • June Carter Cash
    Jay-Z's Magna Carta Holy Grail: What's In A Title?
    MTV News
    June 17, 2013
    Hov emphasizes a set of 'new rules,' being set by himself, Kanye West, J. Cole and Wale.
    Read More
  • June Carter Cash
    Jay-Z's Magna Carta Holy Grail: What's In A Title?
    MTV News
    June 17, 2013
    Hov emphasizes a set of 'new rules,' being set by himself, Kanye West, J. Cole and Wale.
    Read More
  • June Carter Cash
    Kim Kardashian And Kanye West Get Baby 'Congrats' From Beyonce
    MTV News
    June 17, 2013
    Mom to Blue Ivy tells the new parents to 'enjoy this moment' in a heartfelt post, days after Kim gave birth to her daughter.
    Read More
  • June Carter Cash
    Happy Father's Day To Kanye West And The New Crop Of Hip-Hop Dads
    MTV RapFix
    June 16, 2013
    (T.I., 2 Chainz and more give Kanye some fatherly advice) By Maurice Bobb Father’s Day is here, which means that veteran dads like T.I . and D...
    Read More
  • June Carter Cash
    June Carter Cash gets tribute album treatment
    prefixmag.com
    after the jump..."If I Were a Carpenter," Sheryl Crow and Willie Nelson"Jackson," Carlene Carter and Ronnie Dunn"Wildwood Flower," Loretta Lynn"Far Si...
    Read More
  • June Carter Cash
    June Carter Cash gets tribute album treatment
    prefixmag.com
    Via Billboard:On June 19th, Dualtone Records will release Anchored in Love, a tribute album to June Carter Cash. Willie Nelson, Elvis Costello, Emmylo...
    Read More
  • June Carter Cash
    Reese Witherspoon Moving From June Carter to Peggy Lee | Billboard.com
    www.billboard.com
    Reese Witherspoon is working her way through the classic American songbook. The actress, who won an Oscar in 2005 for portraying June Carter in "Walk ...
    Read More
  • June Carter Cash
    Reese Witherspoon Moving From June Carter to Peggy Lee | Billboard.com
    www.billboard.com
    Platt, who produced the "Legally Blonde" movies, and Ephron, who counts herself a major fan of Lee's music. Lee, who got her start in the 1940s singin...
    Read More

Discography

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  • Wildwood Flower (2003)
    June Carter Cash
    Wildwood Flower (2003)
    Dualtone Music Group Inc.
  • The Making of Wildwood Flower Radio Special (2003)
    June Carter Cash
    The Making of Wildwood Flower Radio Special (2003)
    Dualtone Music
  • Press On (1999)
    June Carter Cash
    Press On (1999)
    Dualtone Music Group Inc.
  • Johnny Cash and His Woman (1973)
    June Carter Cash
    Johnny Cash and His Woman (1973)
    Columbia
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