Johnny Cash Finds New Home at US Capitol

Bronze statue of late country legend is unveiled in DC, with family members in attendance
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 25, 2024 9:40 AM CDT
Johnny Cash Finds New Home at US Capitol
From left, Johnny Cash daughter Rosanne Cash, sister Joanne Cash, daughter Cindy Cash, daughter Tara Cash Schwoebel, daughter Kathy Cash, and stepdaughter Carlene Carter pose in front of the unveiled bronze statue of singer Johnny Cash at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday.   (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Johnny Cash now stands among the most famous politicians, trailblazers, and activists of American history as he became the first professional musician to be honored with a statue in the US Capitol. Congressional leaders from both parties and members of the Cash family were among the several hundred guests who gathered Tuesday for the unveiling of the statue, per the AP. They shared their memories of a man who grew up on an Arkansas cotton farm and turned a love of music into a decades-long career that gave voice to the struggles and triumphs of everyday Americans.

"Some may ask: Why should a musician have a statue here in the halls of the great American republic?" House Speaker Mike Johnson said at the unveiling ceremony. "The answer is pretty simple. It's because America is about more than laws and politics." Each state selects two statues to place within the Capitol. Arkansas' Legislature in 2019 voted to replace its two prior statues, which depicted little-known figures from the 18th and 19th centuries, with new ones. A statue depicting civil rights leader Daisy Bates was unveiled at the Capitol earlier this year. Bates mentored the nine Black children who desegregated Little Rock Central High School in 1957.

Known as the "Man in Black," Cash was a vivid storyteller who sang songs like "I Walk the Line," "Ring of Fire," "Jackson," "I've Been Everywhere," and "A Boy Named Sue." The statue, created by Little Rock sculptor Kevin Kresse, depicts the singer with a guitar slung across his back and a Bible in his hand. Cash daughter Rosanne Cash said her father would have viewed the statue "as the ultimate" honor in his life." Johnny Cash died in 2003 at age 71. He's among the few artists inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

(More Johnny Cash stories.)

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