Johnny Cash | Academy of Achievement

<!doctype html> <html lang="en-US"> <head><script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=HxkREWBo" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("https://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("https://achievement.org/achiever/johnny-cash/","20200917235228","https://web.archive.org/","web","/_static/", "1600386748"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=S1zqJCYt" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />  <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta http-equiv="x-ua-compatible" content="ie=edge"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="57x57" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-57x57.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="114x114" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-114x114.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="72x72" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-72x72.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="144x144" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-144x144.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="60x60" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-60x60.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="120x120" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-120x120.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="76x76" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-76x76.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="152x152" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-152x152.png"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-196x196.png" sizes="196x196"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-96x96.png" sizes="96x96"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-32x32.png" sizes="32x32"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-16x16.png" sizes="16x16"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-128.png" sizes="128x128"/> <meta name="application-name" content="Academy of Achievement"/> <meta name="msapplication-TileColor" content="#000000"/> <meta name="msapplication-TileImage" content="https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-144x144.png"/> <meta name="msapplication-square70x70logo" content="https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-70x70.png"/> <meta name="msapplication-square150x150logo" content="https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-150x150.png"/> <meta name="msapplication-wide310x150logo" content="https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-310x150.png"/> <meta name="msapplication-square310x310logo" content="https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-310x310.png"/> <link href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228cs_/https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Source+Sans+Pro:400,600,400italic,600italic,700,700italic&display=swap" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">  <title>Johnny Cash | Academy of Achievement</title> <meta name="description" content="For over 40 years, Johnny Cash wrote and sang about the lives of hard-scrabble farmers, homeless drifters, broken-down cowhands, broken-hearted lovers and men behind bars. He gave a voice to the lonesome and the lost, the dispossessed and the disillusioned. He came by this sympathy naturally, growing up on his family's cotton farm in rural Arkansas in the depths of the Depression. America first discovered Johnny Cash in the mid-1950s, and since then people around the world have heard in his voice an unmistakable honesty about the hard facts of life, love and faith. Johnny Cash placed at least two hit singles a year on the country music charts for 33 years running, and over 53 million copies of his record albums have been sold since 1959. Songs like "Folsom Prison Blues" and "I Walk the Line" have become part of the national inheritance. In his eighth decade, he won over a new generation of admirers with his interpretations of songs ranging from traditional ballads to the dark and moody songs of contemporary rock bands. Johnny Cash and his songs have become an institution in our national life. Thanks to his recordings, the Man in Black with the cavernous baritone voice will remain as much a part of the American scene as the Mississippi River or the Rocky Mountains."/> <meta name="robots" content="index, follow"/> <meta name="googlebot" content="index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1"/> <meta name="bingbot" content="index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1"/> <link rel="canonical" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/johnny-cash/"/> <meta property="og:locale" content="en_US"/> <meta property="og:type" content="article"/> <meta property="og:title" content="Johnny Cash | Academy of Achievement"/> <meta property="og:description" content="For over 40 years, Johnny Cash wrote and sang about the lives of hard-scrabble farmers, homeless drifters, broken-down cowhands, broken-hearted lovers and men behind bars. He gave a voice to the lonesome and the lost, the dispossessed and the disillusioned. He came by this sympathy naturally, growing up on his family's cotton farm in rural Arkansas in the depths of the Depression. America first discovered Johnny Cash in the mid-1950s, and since then people around the world have heard in his voice an unmistakable honesty about the hard facts of life, love and faith. Johnny Cash placed at least two hit singles a year on the country music charts for 33 years running, and over 53 million copies of his record albums have been sold since 1959. Songs like "Folsom Prison Blues" and "I Walk the Line" have become part of the national inheritance. In his eighth decade, he won over a new generation of admirers with his interpretations of songs ranging from traditional ballads to the dark and moody songs of contemporary rock bands. Johnny Cash and his songs have become an institution in our national life. Thanks to his recordings, the Man in Black with the cavernous baritone voice will remain as much a part of the American scene as the Mississippi River or the Rocky Mountains."/> <meta property="og:url" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/johnny-cash/"/> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Academy of Achievement"/> <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2019-05-03T21:04:30+00:00"/> <meta property="og:image" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/cash-2-Feature-Image-2800x1120.jpg"/> <meta property="og:image:width" content="2800"/> <meta property="og:image:height" content="1120"/> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary"/> <meta name="twitter:creator" content="@achievers1961"/> <meta name="twitter:site" content="@achievers1961"/> <script type="application/ld+json" class="yoast-schema-graph">{"@context":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/#organization","name":"Academy of Achievement","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/","sameAs":["https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-academy-of-achievement","https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChe_87uh1H-NIMf3ndTjPFw","https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_of_Achievement","https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://twitter.com/achievers1961"],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/#logo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/12.png","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Academy of Achievement"},"image":{"@id":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/#logo"}},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/#website","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/","name":"Academy of Achievement","description":"A museum of living history","publisher":{"@id":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/search/{search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/johnny-cash/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/cash-2-Feature-Image-2800x1120.jpg","width":2800,"height":1120},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/johnny-cash/#webpage","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/johnny-cash/","name":"Johnny Cash | Academy of Achievement","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/johnny-cash/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2015-12-12T04:17:06+00:00","dateModified":"2019-05-03T21:04:30+00:00","description":"For over 40 years, Johnny Cash wrote and sang about the lives of hard-scrabble farmers, homeless drifters, broken-down cowhands, broken-hearted lovers and men behind bars. 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role="document"> <div class="content"> <main class="main"> <div class="feature-area__container"> <header class="feature-area feature-area--has-image ratio-container ratio-container--feature"> <figure class="feature-box"> <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image feature-area__image" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/cash-2-Feature-Image-2800x1120.jpg [(max-width:544px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2015/12/cash-2-Feature-Image-2800x1120-1400x560.jpg [(max-width:992px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2015/12/cash-2-Feature-Image-2800x1120.jpg"></div> <div class="display--table"> <div class="display--table-cell"> <figcaption class="feature-area__text ratio-container__text container"> <div class="feature-area__text-inner text-white"> <h2 class="serif-8 feature-area__text-subhead back"><a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever">All achievers</a></h2> <h1 class="serif-1 entry-title feature-area__text-headline">Johnny Cash</h1> <h5 class="sans-6 feature-area__blurb">Country Music Legend</h5> </div> </figcaption> </div> </div> </figure> </header> </div>  <nav class="in-page-nav row fixedsticky"> <ul class="nav text-xs-center clearfix" role="tablist"> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link active" data-toggle="tab" href="#biography" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Biography">Biography</a> </li> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link" data-toggle="tab" href="#profile" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Profile">Profile</a> </li> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link" data-toggle="tab" href="#interview" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Interview">Interview</a> </li> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link" data-toggle="tab" href="#gallery" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Gallery">Gallery</a> </li> </ul> </nav> <article class="post-58 achiever type-achiever status-publish has-post-thumbnail hentry careers-musician"> <div class="entry-content container clearfix">  <div class="tab-content"> <div class="tab-pane active" id="biography" role="tabpanel"> <section class="achiever--biography"> <div class="banner clearfix"> <div class="banner--single clearfix"> <div class="col-lg-8 col-lg-offset-2"> <div class="banner__image__container"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/what-it-takes/id1025864075?mt=2" target="_blank"> <figure class="ratio-container ratio-container--square bg-black"> <img class="lazyload banner__image" data-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/cash_WhatItTakes_256x256-190x190.jpg" alt="What It Takes - Johnny Cash"/> </figure> </a> </div> <div class="banner__text__container"> <h3 class="serif-3 banner__headline"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/what-it-takes/id1025864075?mt=2" target="_blank"> Listen to this achiever on <i>What It Takes</i> </a> </h3> <p class="sans-6 banner__text m-b-0"><i>What It Takes</i> is an audio podcast produced by the American Academy of Achievement featuring intimate, revealing conversations with influential leaders in the diverse fields of endeavor: public service, science and exploration, sports, technology, business, arts and humanities, and justice.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="row"> <header class="editorial-article__header col-md-8 col-md-offset-2 text-xs-center"> <i class="icon-icon_bio text-brand-primary"></i> <h3 class="serif-3 quote-marks">A person knows when it just seems to feel right to them. Listen to your heart.</h3> </header> </div> <div class="row"> <aside class="col-md-4 sidebar clearfix"> <h2 class="serif-3 p-b-1">Music's Man in Black</h2> <div class="col-xs-12 sidebar--chunk p-b-2"> <dt class="serif-7">Date of Birth</dt> <dd class="sans-2"> February 26, 1932 </dd> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 sidebar--chunk p-b-2"> <dt class="serif-7">Date of Death</dt> <dd class="sans-2"> September 12, 2003 </dd> </div> </aside> <article class="editorial-article col-md-8"> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body data-rsssl="1"><p>Johnny Cash was born in the small town of Kingsland, in the hill country of southern Arkansas. Life had always been difficult there, but when the Great Depression destroyed the fragile agricultural economy of the region, Johnny’s parents, Ray and Carrie Cash, could barely earn enough to feed their seven children.</p> <figure id="attachment_18324" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-18324" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-18324 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-AP_679265751740-Copy.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-18324 size-full lazyload" alt="The childhood home, dating to the mid 1930s, of singer Johnny Cash in Dyess, Arkansas. Money and memorabilia from Johnny Cash’s family and friends have helped historians restore a significant part of the Historic Dyess Colony, a government collective built to pull Depression-era families out of poverty. Cash’s boyhood home, along with the colony’s former headquarters, will open Saturday to reflect everyday life in a northeast Arkansas community built on once-sunken land. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)" width="2280" height="1520" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-AP_679265751740-Copy.jpg 2280w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-AP_679265751740-Copy-380x253.jpg 380w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-AP_679265751740-Copy-760x507.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-AP_679265751740-Copy.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-18324" class="wp-caption-text">The childhood farmhouse, dating to the mid-1930s, of singer Johnny Cash in Dyess, Arkansas. memorabilia and money from Johnny Cash’s family and friends have helped historians restore a significant part of the Historic Dyess Colony, a government collective built to pull Depression-era families out of poverty. Cash’s boyhood home, along with the colony’s headquarters, reflect life in a northeast Arkansas community built on once-sunken land. (© AP)</figcaption></figure> <p>In 1935, the New Deal administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt encouraged marginal farmers from the hill country to resettle in the more fertile soil of northeastern Arkansas. The Cash family took the government up on this offer and made the move. Working together, they cleared 20 acres of land to grow cotton. Johnny worked side by side with his parents on the farm.</p> <p>In the evenings when the day’s chores were done, the Cash family gathered on their front porch. Johnny’s mother, Carrie, played guitar, and the whole family sang hymns and traditional tunes. Johnny loved his mother’s playing and singing, and he was entranced by the country and gospel singers he heard on an uncle’s battery-powered radio. By 12 he was writing poems, songs and stories.</p> <figure id="attachment_18321" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-18321" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-18321 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-2-GettyImages-73908827_master-Copy.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-18321 size-full lazyload" alt="1957: Country singer/songwriter Johnny Cash in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)" width="2280" height="2612" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-2-GettyImages-73908827_master-Copy.jpg 2280w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-2-GettyImages-73908827_master-Copy-332x380.jpg 332w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-2-GettyImages-73908827_master-Copy-663x760.jpg 663w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-2-GettyImages-73908827_master-Copy.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-18321" class="wp-caption-text">1957: Country singer and songwriter Johnny Cash in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Ochs/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure> <p>He took his first non-farm job at 14, carrying water for work gangs, but he had set his heart on a music career. He entered talent contests and sang anytime and anywhere people would listen. When Johnny Cash graduated from high school in 1950, there was no question of his going to college. The Korean War was raging, and he enlisted in the United States Air Force. He was serving with the Air Force in Germany when he bought his very first guitar. With a few of his buddies, he started a band called the Barbarians to play in small night clubs and honky tonks around the air base. When his hitch in the service was over, Johnny Cash moved to Memphis, where he sold appliances door-to-door while trying to break into the music business.</p> <figure id="attachment_18325" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-18325" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-18325 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-GettyImages-75982219_master-Copy.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-18325 size-full lazyload" alt="Sun Records founder Sam Phillips with country singer/songwriter Johnny Cash as he gives him a framed record of the song "I Walk The Line" to commemorate a milestone in album sales which was released on May 1, 1956 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Colin Escott/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)" width="2280" height="1805" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-GettyImages-75982219_master-Copy.jpg 2280w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-GettyImages-75982219_master-Copy-380x301.jpg 380w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-GettyImages-75982219_master-Copy-760x602.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-GettyImages-75982219_master-Copy.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-18325" class="wp-caption-text">Sun Records founder Sam Phillips with country singer/songwriter Johnny Cash, as he gives him a framed record of the song “I Walk The Line” to commemorate a milestone in album sales. The song appeared on Cash’s first album, <em>With His Hot and Blue Guitar</em>, which was released on May 1, 1956 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Colin Escott and Getty)</figcaption></figure> <p>In 1954, he was signed to the Sun Records label owned by Sam Phillips, who had also discovered rock ‘n rollers Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. Philips was impressed with the song “Hey Porter” Cash had written when he was returning home from the Air Force. When Phillips wanted a ballad for the b-side of “Hey Porter,” Cash wrote “Cry, Cry, Cry” overnight. The single sold over 100,000 copies in the southern states alone. Johnny Cash and his sidemen, the Tennessee Two, began touring with Elvis Presley and the other Sun Records artists. They performed on the <em>Louisiana Hayride</em> radio program, and Johnny Cash made his first television appearances on local programs in the South.</p> <figure id="attachment_9328" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-9328" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-9328 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordperss-Corbis42-17536519.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-9328 size-full lazyload" alt="Music icons Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, Sun Records' "Million Dollar Quartet," in an impromptu jam session, 1956. (© Michael Ochs Archives/Corbis)" width="2280" height="1709" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordperss-Corbis42-17536519.jpg 2280w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordperss-Corbis42-17536519-380x285.jpg 380w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordperss-Corbis42-17536519-760x570.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordperss-Corbis42-17536519.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-9328" class="wp-caption-text">Music icons Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, Sun Records’ “Million Dollar Quartet,” in an impromptu jam session, 1956. This photo was the inspiration for a hit Broadway musical. (Photo: Michael Ochs)</figcaption></figure> <p>With his second recording, “Folsom Prison Blues,” Johnny Cash scored a national hit. In 1956, “I Walk the Line” was a top country hit for 44 weeks and sold over a million copies. Johnny began to appear at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, the Mecca of country music. His popularity increased so rapidly that, by 1957, country music publications were rating him the top artist in the field. And by 1958, Johnny Cash had published 50 songs, and pop artists far from the country music mainstream were recording Johnny Cash tunes. He had sold over six million records for Sun when he moved to the New York-based Columbia Records label. Johnny himself moved to California and brought his parents along.</p> <p>By the end of the 1950s, the LP, or long-playing record, was emerging as the dominant form for recorded music. The 1959 album <i>Fabulous Johnny Cash</i> sold half a million copies, as did <i>Hymns and Songs of Our Soil</i>, and the single “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town.” Concert tours took Johnny to Europe, Asia and Australia. He began to appear as an actor in television westerns. Even as his concert fees escalated, he took time from his schedule to perform free of charge at prisons throughout the nation.</p> <figure id="attachment_18322" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-18322" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-18322 " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-2-GettyImages-521919547_master-Copy.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-18322 lazyload" alt="1958: Johnny Cash recording with Columbia Records producer Don Law at Bradley Studio which was bought by Columbia Records in 1962. (Photo by Elmer Williams/Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum/Getty Images)" width="2280" height="2690" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-2-GettyImages-521919547_master-Copy.jpg 2280w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-2-GettyImages-521919547_master-Copy-322x380.jpg 322w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-2-GettyImages-521919547_master-Copy-644x760.jpg 644w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-2-GettyImages-521919547_master-Copy.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-18322" class="wp-caption-text">1958: Johnny Cash recording with Columbia Records producer Don Law at Bradley Studio, which was bought by Columbia Records in 1962. (Photo by Elmer Williams/Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure> <p>The 1960 single “Ride This Train” won a gold record, as did the 1963 album <i>Ring of Fire</i> and the 1968 LP <i>Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison</i>. In 1964, Cash, who was one-quarter Cherokee Indian, recorded the album <i>Bitter Tears</i> on Native American themes. That same year, he appeared at the Newport Folk Festival, breaking down a perceived barrier between the genres of country and folk music. At Newport, he made the acquaintance of Bob Dylan. Dylan featured Cash on his own <i>Nashville Skyline </i>album, and Cash recorded several of Dylan’s songs.</p> <figure id="attachment_18323" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-18323" style="width: 1998px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-18323 " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-AP_680113021-Copy.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-18323 lazyload" alt="Country singer Johnny Cash poses outside the Folsom Prison in California on January 13, 1968, the day he recorded his live album Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison. (AP Photo/Dan Poush)" width="1998" height="3003" data-sizes="(max-width: 1998px) 100vw, 1998px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-AP_680113021-Copy.jpg 1998w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-AP_680113021-Copy-253x380.jpg 253w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-AP_680113021-Copy-506x760.jpg 506w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-AP_680113021-Copy.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-18323" class="wp-caption-text">1968: Country singer Johnny Cash outside Folsom Prison in California, the day he recorded his live album <i>Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison</i>. The album reached No. 1 on the country charts and was certified three times as Platinum.</figcaption></figure> <p>As the 1960s wore on, incessant touring took its toll on the singer. To keep up with his hectic schedule, he had become dependent on tranquilizers and the amphetamine Dexedrine. He gave up his home in California and relocated to Hendersonville, Tennessee, near Nashville. When his health recovered and he had freed himself from his chemical dependency, Johnny Cash married June Carter of the legendary Carter Family, whose radio broadcasts had inspired Johnny when he was growing up in Arkansas. With June at his side, he made a triumphant comeback, selling out Carnegie Hall and breaking the Beatles’ attendance record at London’s Palladium.</p> <figure id="attachment_9330" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-9330" style="width: 4039px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-9330 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-72386223.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-9330 size-full lazyload" alt="1969: Country music legend Johnny Cash with his guitar by the wheels of a steam train. (Photo by Michael Rougier/Time &amp; Life Pictures/Getty Images)" width="4039" height="4090" data-sizes="(max-width: 4039px) 100vw, 4039px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-72386223.jpg 4039w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-72386223-375x380.jpg 375w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-72386223-751x760.jpg 751w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-72386223.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-9330" class="wp-caption-text">1969: Country music legend Johnny Cash with his guitar by the wheels of a steam train. (Michael Rougier/Getty)</figcaption></figure> <p>In 1969, public television broadcast the documentary film <i>Cash!, </i>and the networks became interested in a more regular TV presence. <i>The Johnny Cash Show </i>premiered on ABC television in the summer of 1967 and became part of ABC’s regular schedule the following January. This prime time television variety show ran until 1970 and presented guest artists as varied as Ray Charles, Neil Young, Glenn Campbell, Stevie Wonder, Louis Armstrong, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and The Who.</p> <figure id="attachment_9331" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-9331" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption alignright"><noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-9331 " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-04012105461.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-9331 lazyload" alt="" width="2280" height="2891" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-04012105461.jpg 2280w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-04012105461-300x380.jpg 300w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-04012105461-599x760.jpg 599w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-04012105461.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-9331" class="wp-caption-text">Johnny Cash and June Carter, partners in art and life.</figcaption></figure> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Renewed sales of his records made Johnny Cash a millionaire. He used his earnings to support mental health associations, a home for autistic children, refuges for battered women, the American Cancer Society, YWCA, Youth For Christ, Campus Life, and humane societies around the country. At the same time, he played benefits for Native American causes and endowed a burn research center in memory of his former guitarist Luther Perkins, who had died in a fire. </span><span class="s1">In addition to performing for prison inmates, Johnny Cash campaigned for prison reform, corresponded with inmates and helped many return to society. His 1975 autobiography <i>Man in Black</i> sold 1.3 million copies. He surprised fans and critics alike in 1986 by writing <i>Man in White</i>, a bestselling novel based on the life of St. Paul. </span><span class="s1">In 1987, Johnny Cash received three multi-platinum records for previous sales of over two million copies each of <i>Folsom Prison</i>, <i>San Quentin,</i> and his collection of <i>Greatest Hits.</i> </span></p> <figure id="attachment_9333" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-9333" style="width: 2065px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-9333 " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-7004170200.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-9333 lazyload" alt="" width="2065" height="3002" data-sizes="(max-width: 2065px) 100vw, 2065px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-7004170200.jpg 2065w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-7004170200-261x380.jpg 261w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-7004170200-523x760.jpg 523w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-7004170200.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-9333" class="wp-caption-text">Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash at the White House, where they played for President Richard Nixon, 1970. (AP)</figcaption></figure> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">In 1994, his recording career revived with the release of <i>American Recordings</i>, the first of four Grammy Award-winning collections of extremely diverse material, ranging from folk songs to his own compositions and songs by contemporary artists such as U2 and Nine Inch Nails.</span></p> <figure id="attachment_18326" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-18326" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-18326 " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-GettyImages-106974103_master-Copy.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-18326 lazyload" alt="" width="2280" height="1519" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-GettyImages-106974103_master-Copy.jpg 2280w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-GettyImages-106974103_master-Copy-380x253.jpg 380w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-GettyImages-106974103_master-Copy-760x506.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-GettyImages-106974103_master-Copy.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-18326" class="wp-caption-text">November 5, 1970: Carl Perkins, Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash, and Derek & The Dominos on <em>The Johnny Cash Show</em>.</figcaption></figure> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Over the course of his career, he received 11 Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame. He received the Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal of the Arts, and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.<br> </span></p> <figure id="attachment_9335" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-9335" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-9335 " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Cash-Johnny-Getty-2716970_10.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-9335 lazyload" alt="" width="2280" height="1746" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Cash-Johnny-Getty-2716970_10.jpg 2280w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Cash-Johnny-Getty-2716970_10-380x291.jpg 380w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Cash-Johnny-Getty-2716970_10-760x582.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Cash-Johnny-Getty-2716970_10.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-9335" class="wp-caption-text">1975: Johnny Cash (1932 – 2003) and June Carter Cash (1929 – 2003) perform a duet. (Photo credit: Getty Images)</figcaption></figure> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">His wife of 35 years, June Carter Cash, died from complications following heart surgery in May 2003. Johnny Cash followed her in death four months later, succumbing to respiratory failure after a long struggle with diabetes. Even in death, Johnny Cash remains a powerful force in American culture. Only two years after his passing, a motion picture based on his life, <i>Walk the Line</i>, enjoyed worldwide critical and popular success. The film generated a revival of interest in his life and work, assuring that another generation would find inspiration in the timeless sound of the Man in Black.</span></p> <figure id="attachment_40043" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-40043" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-40043 " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/WP-2280-Johnny-Cash.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-40043 lazyload" alt="" width="2280" height="1804" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/WP-2280-Johnny-Cash.jpg 2280w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/WP-2280-Johnny-Cash-380x301.jpg 380w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/WP-2280-Johnny-Cash-760x601.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/WP-2280-Johnny-Cash.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-40043" class="wp-caption-text">Academy Golden Plate Awards Council member Johnny Cash, with his wife, June Carter Cash, and guest of honor and classical guitarist Christopher Parkening, at the 1993 Achievement Summit in Glacier National Park, Montana.</figcaption></figure> <p><i>American VI: Ain’t No Grave</i>, released February 26, 2010 on what would have been Cash’s 78th birthday, is the last of the American Recordings series Cash was working on with producer Rick Rubin months before his death.</p> </body></html> <div class="clearfix"> </div> </article> </div> </section> </div> <div class="tab-pane" id="profile" role="tabpanel"> <section class="clearfix"> <header class="editorial-article__header"> <figure class="text-xs-center"> <img class="inductee-badge" src="/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/inducted-badge@2x.png" alt="Inducted Badge" width="120" height="120"/> <figcaption class="serif-3 text-brand-primary"> Inducted in 1988 </figcaption> </figure> </header> <div class="row"> <aside class="col-md-4 sidebar"> <dl class="clearfix m-b-0"> <div class="col-xs-12 sidebar--chunk p-b-2"> <dt class="serif-7">Career</dt> <dd class="sans-2"> <div><a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/#filter=.musician">Musician</a></div> </dd> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 sidebar--chunk p-b-2"> <dt class="serif-7">Date of Birth</dt> <dd class="sans-2"> February 26, 1932 </dd> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 sidebar--chunk p-b-2"> <dt class="serif-7">Date of Death</dt> <dd class="sans-2"> September 12, 2003 </dd> </div> </dl> </aside> <article class="col-md-8 editorial-article clearfix"> <p>For over 40 years, Johnny Cash wrote and sang about the lives of hard-scrabble farmers, homeless drifters, broken-down cowhands, broken-hearted lovers and men behind bars. He gave a voice to the lonesome and the lost, the dispossessed and the disillusioned. He came by this sympathy naturally, growing up on his family’s cotton farm in rural Arkansas in the depths of the Depression. America first discovered Johnny Cash in the mid-1950s, and since then people around the world have heard in his voice an unmistakable honesty about the hard facts of life, love and faith.</p> <p>Johnny Cash placed at least two hit singles a year on the country music charts for 33 years running, and over 53 million copies of his record albums have been sold since 1959. Songs like “Folsom Prison Blues” and “I Walk the Line” have become part of the national inheritance. In his eighth decade, he won over a new generation of admirers with his interpretations of songs ranging from traditional ballads to the dark and moody songs of contemporary rock bands.</p> <p>Johnny Cash and his songs have become an institution in our national life. Thanks to his recordings, the Man in Black with the cavernous baritone voice will remain as much a part of the American scene as the Mississippi River or the Rocky Mountains.</p> </article> </div> </section> </div> <div class="tab-pane" id="interview" role="tabpanel"> <section class="clearfix"> <div class="col-md-12 interview-feature-video"> <figure> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/1PQyVgyUmWU?feature=oembed&hd=1&modestbranding=1&rel=0&start=0&end=1298&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Cash-Johnny-1993-HD-Color-Corrected.00_06_04_04.Still003-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Cash-Johnny-1993-HD-Color-Corrected.00_06_04_04.Still003-760x428.jpg"></div> <div class="video-tag sans-4"> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> <div class="video-tag__text">Watch full interview</div> </div> </div> </figure> </div> <header class="col-md-12 text-xs-center m-b-2"> <i class="icon-icon_bio text-brand-primary"></i> </header> <aside class="col-md-4 sidebar"> <h2 class="serif-3 achiever--biography-subtitle">Music's Man in Black</h2> <div class="sans-2">Glacier Park, Montana</div> <div class="sans-2">June 25, 1993</div> </aside> <article class="editorial-article col-md-8">   <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>When did you first have a vision of what you wanted to do?</b></span></p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/vr7icQdIAJ8?feature=oembed&hd=1&modestbranding=1&rel=0&start=0&end=49&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Cash-Johnny-1993-HD-Color-Corrected.00_11_22_08.Still005-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Cash-Johnny-1993-HD-Color-Corrected.00_11_22_08.Still005-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/keys-to-success/passion/">Passion</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">Johnny Cash: I think the first time I knew what I wanted to do with my life was when I was about four years old.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I was listening to an old Victrola, playing a railroad song.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The song was called “Hobo Bill’s Last Ride.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And I thought that was the most wonderful, amazing thing that I’d ever seen.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That you could take this piece of wax, and music would come out of that box. From that day on, I wanted to sing on the radio. That was the big thing when I was growing up, singing on the radio. The extent of my dream was to sing on the radio station in Memphis.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Even when I got out of the Air Force in 1954, I came right back to Memphis and started knocking on doors at the radio station.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/qSl4uSVZ_aY?feature=oembed&hd=1&modestbranding=1&rel=0&start=0&end=45&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Cash-Johnny-1993-MasterEdit.00_13_30_13.Still007-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Cash-Johnny-1993-MasterEdit.00_13_30_13.Still007-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/keys-to-success/perseverance/">Perseverance</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">I grew up in the ’40s and I heard all these great speeches, like Winston Churchill.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>His most famous, or infamous commencement exercise speech was one that consisted of seven words.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He stood before this graduating class and said:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>“Never, never, never, never, never give up.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And then somebody else said: “Every day in every way I’m getting better and better.” I didn’t especially believe that about myself, but I said it every day and I made myself believe it and it worked. I persevered. I never gave up my dream to “sing on the radio.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And that dream came true in 1955.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body data-rsssl="1"><figure id="attachment_9337" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-9337" style="width: 2240px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-9337 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-DWF15-427065.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-9337 size-full lazyload" alt="Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where Johnny Cash made his first recordings in 1955. Sun Records owner Sam Phillips discovered some of America's most influential rock, country and blues artists, including Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Howlin' Wolf. (© Morris Abernathy/Corbis)" width="2240" height="1488" data-sizes="(max-width: 2240px) 100vw, 2240px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-DWF15-427065.jpg 2240w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-DWF15-427065-380x252.jpg 380w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-DWF15-427065-760x505.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-DWF15-427065.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-9337" class="wp-caption-text">Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where Johnny Cash made his first recordings in 1955. (Getty Images)</figcaption></figure> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Tell us how that dream came true. Who gave you your first big break?</b></span></p> </body></html> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/_F4d_0hmYXE?feature=oembed&hd=1&modestbranding=1&rel=0&start=0&end=83&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Cash-Johnny-1993-HD-Color-Corrected.00_03_26_29.Still001-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Cash-Johnny-1993-HD-Color-Corrected.00_03_26_29.Still001-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/keys-to-success/perseverance/">Perseverance</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">Johnny Cash: Sam Phillips, at Sun Records.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>There was a label called Sun Records in Memphis that was pretty hot, with Elvis Presley, and two or three locally well-known country acts, and some black, blues and gospel singers.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>When I got out of the Air Force, I went and knocked on that door and was turned away.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I called back for an interview three or four times, was turned away. So one morning I found out what time the man went to work. I went down with my guitar and sat on his steps until he got there. And when he got there I introduced myself, and he said, “You’re the one that’s been calling.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I said, “Yeah.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>You know, I had to take the chance, he was either going to let me come in, or he was going to run me off, turn me down again. Evidently, he woke up on the right side of the bed that morning.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He said, “Come on in, let’s listen.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>So he did.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He said, “Come back tomorrow and bring some musicians.” So I went down to the garage where I worked, where my brother Roy worked, and was introduced to two musicians down there.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Brought them back to the studio and the next day was our first session. We recorded, and released the songs that we recorded the second day. <span class="s1">It was very simple back then. You didn’t worry about arrangements. It was one-track recording.</span></p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body data-rsssl="1"><figure id="attachment_9328" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-9328" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-9328 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordperss-Corbis42-17536519.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-9328 size-full lazyload" alt="Music icons Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, Sun Records' "Million Dollar Quartet," in an impromptu jam session, 1956. (© Michael Ochs Archives/Corbis)" width="2280" height="1709" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordperss-Corbis42-17536519.jpg 2280w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordperss-Corbis42-17536519-380x285.jpg 380w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordperss-Corbis42-17536519-760x570.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordperss-Corbis42-17536519.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-9328" class="wp-caption-text">Music icons Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, Sun Records’ “Million Dollar Quartet,” in an impromptu jam session, 1956. Cash wrote in his autobiography <em>Cash</em> that he had been first to arrive at the Sun Studio that day, wanting to listen in on the Perkins recording session. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives and Corbis)</figcaption></figure> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>When you were young, was there a particular book that you read that was important to you?</b></span></p> </body></html> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/N7Ge5eid4Og?feature=oembed&hd=1&modestbranding=1&rel=0&start=0&end=121&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Cash-Johnny-1993-HD-Color-Corrected.00_05_32_12.Still002-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Cash-Johnny-1993-HD-Color-Corrected.00_05_32_12.Still002-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">Johnny Cash: I read a book when I was about 12 years old about an Indian named Lone Bull. Lone Bull had tried to go out and kill a buffalo.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He slipped out of the village, against his father’s wishes and went out. He was going to be a hero and kill a buffalo and bring it back to the village, so his family and the other people could have meat. And the elders of the village knew about the buffalo herd. They knew it was there, and they were making plans to cut into the herd and cut off some buffalo and kill them and have meat for the whole winter and into the next spring.</p> <p class="p1">Lone Bull wanted to be a hero.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He went out with his bow and arrow and killed a calf, and ran the herd off into the next state.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He drug this calf home, his family was fed, but they were ostracized from the village.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They had to leave the village. Lone Bull became a wanderer, until he found a village that would take him in.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>In that next village where he was taken in, he organized the buffalo hunt that winter, and they had more meat than this village had ever had before.</p> <p class="p1">So, I learn from my mistakes.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It’s a very painful way to learn, but without pain, the old saying is, there’s no gain. I found that to be true in my life. You miss a lot of opportunities by making mistakes, but that’s part of it: is knowing that you’re not shut out forever, and that there’s a goal there that you still can reach. Lone Bull’s philosophy was, “I’m kicked out of this village, but I will grow up and I’ll come into another one and I will do what I set out to do. That was feed the people.” So I’m feeding my people right now.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body data-rsssl="1"><figure id="attachment_9329" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-9329" style="width: 444px" class="wp-caption alignright"><noscript><img class="wp-image-9329 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-1942_ET.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-9329 size-full lazyload" alt="Johnny Cash, age ten in 1942. (Mississippi Valley Collection)" width="444" height="617" data-sizes="(max-width: 444px) 100vw, 444px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-1942_ET.jpg 444w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-1942_ET-273x380.jpg 273w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-1942_ET.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-9329" class="wp-caption-text">1942: Johnny Cash, at the age of ten, in Dyess, Arkansas.</figcaption></figure> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>A lot of people let failure get them down. You’re saying that you’ve got to move on.</b></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s2">Johnny Cash: You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space. If you analyze it as you’re moving forward, you’ll never fall in the same trap twice, which I can’t say that I haven’t been guilty of doing. But my advice is, if they’re going to break your legs once when you go in that place, stay out of there.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Was there a particular person that was very important to you as a kid?</b></span></p> </body></html> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/PoKf8jmFpsg?feature=oembed&hd=1&modestbranding=1&rel=0&start=0&end=54&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Cash-Johnny-1993-MasterEdit.00_04_09_27.Still008-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Cash-Johnny-1993-MasterEdit.00_04_09_27.Still008-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">Johnny Cash: In my little world, in northeast Arkansas on a cotton farm, it was my brother Jack.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He was my inspiration. He was two years older than I and he was killed at the age of 14.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I always wanted to be like him.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He was a strong person, he was a Bible student, he was in perfect shape, physically. I always wanted to be like him. And when he died, my best friend was still my mother, and she always encouraged me to sing.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>As a matter of fact, we were very poor, and she took in washing from the school teachers, washed their clothes to make money to give me singing lessons, voice lessons. After about three lessons the voice teacher said, “Don’t take voice lessons. Do it your way.” I was glad for my mother that I didn’t have to take them.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body data-rsssl="1"><figure id="attachment_9336" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-9336" style="width: 396px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-9336 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-cash_jack.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-9336 size-full lazyload" alt="Johnny Cash and his brother, Jack, who died at age 14. (Courtesy of Johnny Cash)" width="396" height="312" data-sizes="(max-width: 396px) 100vw, 396px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-cash_jack.jpg 396w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-cash_jack-380x299.jpg 380w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-cash_jack.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-9336" class="wp-caption-text">Cash and his older brother Jack, who died at age 15, when he was pulled into a table saw at his high school. Ray and Carrie Cash had seven children: Roy, Margaret Louise, Jack, J. R., Reba, Joanne, and Tommy. (© Johnny Cash)</figcaption></figure> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>How about your father?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: My father was a man of love. He always loved me to death. He worked hard in the fields, but my father never hit me. Never. I don’t ever remember a really cross, unkind word from my father. He was a good, strong man who provided for his family. That was his sole purpose in life when I was growing up.</span></p> <figure id="attachment_9332" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-9332" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-9332 " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228im_/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-6801010320.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-9332 lazyload" alt="Johnny Cash and his mother Carrie, at her home in Oakview, California, 1968. (AP Images/Gene Beley)" width="2280" height="2290" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-6801010320.jpg 2280w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-6801010320-190x190.jpg 190w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-6801010320-378x380.jpg 378w, /web/20200917235228im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-6801010320-757x760.jpg 757w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-6801010320.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-9332" class="wp-caption-text">Johnny Cash and his mother, Carrie, at her home in Oakview, California, 1968. (Photo by AP Images/Gene Beley)</figcaption></figure> <p class="p3"><span class="s2"><b>It sounds like your parents were supportive of your path.</b></span></p> <p>Johnny Cash: They were. Especially my mother. She was the most musically inclined in the family. She played a little guitar and piano, and loved to sing. From the time I started trying to sing when I was a kid, she always encouraged me to do it. I told her when I was about 12 that I was going to sing on the radio. She encouraged that dream.</p> <p>Musically, my inspirations were whoever was popular on the radio: Jimmy Rodgers, the Carter Family — which is my wife’s family — black blues, black gospel and white gospel groups, like the Blackwood Brothers, and the Chuckwagon Gang. Or cowboy singers like Gene Autry, and Bob Wills. I liked the image of the man with the white hat correcting all the wrongs out there.</p> <p><strong>Your voice does not sound like anybody else’s voice. You must have had a lot of confidence that you had a voice.</strong></p> <p>Johnny Cash: I did.</p> </body></html> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/Xw5Kt6U_WaY?feature=oembed&hd=1&modestbranding=1&rel=0&start=0&end=47&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Cash-Johnny-1993-MasterEdit.00_18_15_25.Still006-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Cash-Johnny-1993-MasterEdit.00_18_15_25.Still006-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/keys-to-success/vision/">Vision</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">It goes back to that music teacher when I was 12 years old.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>After the third lesson, I was singing some popular country song of the day. I forget the name. I think it was a Hank Williams, no, it was too early for Hank Williams, I guess.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Whatever the song was, I didn’t sing it like the artist had sung it on the radio. And she said, “You’re a song stylist.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>She said, “Always do it your way.” And from the age of 12, I didn’t forget that.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But that was the way I had to do it, because it was the way it was with me.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I had to do it my way.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I couldn’t read those notes, singing those great songs, like a lot of those singers could, but I could do it my way — the way it felt good to me. And that’s what music is all about, emotion.</p> </div> </div>     <aside class="collapse" id="full-interview">    <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Could you talk about a couple of moments that were highlights for you?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: When I married June Carter, March 1, 1968. My son was born March 3, 1970. My induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame, which is the ultimate for a country singer, in 1980. Then, of all things, the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. They recognized my Rockabilly roots, I suppose. But the big one for me, the one that meant the most to me, was the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame. To recognize a talent that comes from God through a person. That means more to me. It’s on a little stand just as you come in my door. It’s the first thing you see when you come in my house. I’m extremely proud of that.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>What are the most important qualities for success in music?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: To love who you are and what you do, and to have faith in your ability to do it. You’ve got to know your limitations. I don’t know what your limitations are. I found out what mine were when I was twelve. I found out that there weren’t too many limitations, if I did it my way. </span><span class="s1">I’m not talking about ego, and arrogance, and grandiose feelings. I’m talking about self-esteem and confidence. That’s vital: self-esteem and confidence.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>What do you think Sam Phillips saw in you that made him take a chance on you?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: I think Sam Phillips saw the originality and my difference. As a matter of fact, he said so. I think that’s what it was all about with Sam Phillips and me. That’s why he said, “Bring some musicians tomorrow and let’s record,” after he heard me the first day. He heard something that was different. Not necessarily something that was good or exceptional, or even good, but different. He had had a lot of success recording people that sounded different.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>That’s a talent in itself.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: If it works. It’s like a novelist writing far out things. If it makes a point and makes sense, then people like to read that. But if it’s off in left field and goes over the edge, you lose it. The same with musical talent, I think.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">If you can hold your listener, hold their attention, and you’re sure you know what you’re doing, and know that you’re communicating — you know, performance is communicating. You’ve got to communicate. You’ve got a song you’re singing from your gut, you want that audience to feel it in their gut. And you’ve got to make them think that you’re one of them sitting out there with them, too. They’ve got to be able to relate to what you’re doing.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>How do you do that?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: I don’t know how you do that. I just know when I’m doing it, and I know if I’m not doing it. After 38 years experience, I pretty well know if it’s going to work or not, usually.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>As a song writer, do you feel confident enough about, yes, that works, or is there a lot of insecurity about that?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: There’s no insecurity about my song writing. </span><span class="s1">I start a lot more songs than I finish, because I realize when I get into them, they’re no good. I don’t throw them away, I just put them away, store them, get them out of sight. When I get an idea for a song it would gel in my mind for weeks or months, and then one day just like that, I’ll write it. Songwriting is a very strange thing as far as I’m concerned. It’s not something that I can say, “Next Tuesday morning, I’m gonna sit down and write songs.” I can’t do that. No way. If I say, I’m going to the country and take a walk in the woods next Tuesday, then the probability is, next Tuesday night I might write a song Creative people have to be fed from the divine source. I do. I have to get fed. I have to get filled up in order to pour out. Really have to.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>What feeds you?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: God and inspiring people, like around here at the Academy of Achievement. These people inspire me.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>What are you most proud of?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: I’m most proud that, after all I’ve been through, God has let me be alive and well today, and still with June Carter.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Did you ever imagine that you were going to have this tremendous success?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: No. I had no idea, even when my first record was released. For two or three days I heard it played over a Shreveport, Louisiana radio station, and I thought, “That’s too far away. That doesn’t matter. It’s too far away from Memphis.” It was a couple of months before I realized that the whole world was out there.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Did you have trouble dealing with success when it came?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: Yeah. I had a lot of trouble dealing with success. I think it was harder for me to handle than failure would have been. I had a hard time dealing with it. I had lived a simple life and life on the road as an entertainer is anything but simple. It’s very complicated, very trying, very taxing, very tiring. I had my ups and downs, as is well documented.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>What advice would you give a young person to avoid some of those pitfalls.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: I heard a speaker talking about drugs, alcohol, artificial stimulation, and the instant gratification syndrome. He said, youth itself is enough to ask for, with all its fire and energy, enthusiasm, exuberance, eagerness and hunger. Youth shouldn’t be clouded by any chemical or anything. Somebody my age can easily know that too, but youth is too wonderful a thing to mess with while you’ve got it.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Was there a teacher that particularly inspired you? Was school important to you?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: Yeah, I graduated from high school in 1950, in a little town in Arkansas. Actually, it was the biggest, what they call, cooperative school in the state. </span><span class="s1">I graduated from high school in 1950, in a little town in Arkansas. Actually, it was the biggest, what they call, cooperative school in the state. For a small country town, there were 1,100 students in this school. And I graduated as the vice president of my class. I wasn’t all that high scholastically, because I was writing a lot of poems, and stories, and songs at the time, and I should have been studying more. But school was really important for me. And I was so disappointed in my self that I didn’t make really good grades in math. In all the other subjects I did very well. But school was really important to me. My parents — my mother and father — I think they had an eighth grade education, which was adequate for what they did with their lives then. But they wanted me — and they drilled in me — I had to graduate from high school. </span><span class="s1">College was another hope that was almost unattainable for a cotton farm boy. There was no money for college, and the Korean War was breaking out, so I joined the Air Force.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Would you tell a kid today that school is important?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: I’ve probably had the equivalent of college in the roads I’ve traveled since then, but it would have been great to go from high school right into college to study music and literature.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>What are your goals now?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: I don’t set my goals too high now, at this time in my life. My goals are just to live each day and to keep doing what we’re doing. June and I work hard and we travel more than we really want to, but we’re doing exactly what we really want to do with our lives right now. It may not be the case a year from now, or five years from now, but right now we’re doing what we want to do with our lives.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">We do a little acting. We did a TV western that both of us were in. We’ve done seven movies of the week for television, and we still do that once in a while. We do TV specials. We have an appearance coming up in Washington for the Fourth of July celebration. Things like that, and like the Academy of Achievement, are high points of the year for us.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Can you talk about what your marriage has meant to you?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: The big thing about the music in my life, we shared it. We have a sharing marriage, and we share the road, we share the bedroom, we share the backstage, onstage, we share the music, the feeling, and the emotion, and the joy of it, you know. And the pain and the sadness of it. We share the love of our children. It would be terribly lonely not to have someone to share those things with me. And she’s not only a lady who I share my life with, but she may have been the person responsible for my still being alive. She and God. Because she came along at a time in my life that I was on self-destruct, and she saw what I was doing to myself and she helped bring me back up out of it. And we’ve fought and worked hard to keep our feet on the ground since then. But like I say, today is a good day.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>If you could talk to someone you never met but had admired, who would that be and what would you talk about?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: I would like to have been on the mountain when Jesus was preaching. I would like to have been listening. It’s great to still have his words. I would like to have talked to John Wilkes Booth, and asked him “Why?” to satisfy my own curiosity. I’d like to talk to Pontius Pilate. I’d like to talk to the Apostle Paul. I’d like to talk to King John, at the time of the Magna Carta, and see what the reaction of the common people was.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>The Bible is very important to you.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: I wrote a book called <i>Man In Black,</i> and I dedicated it to E.J. Carter. That’s my wife’s father, who taught me to love the Word. He was a theologian and he got me into Bible history, and the Bible commentaries. I discovered the joy of discovering spiritual truths, and it is a great joy. The Bible is the source of the greatest joy.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>What impact has that had on you?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: It’s a great moral stabilizer in a world that’s run amok. It’s an anchor for my own conscience, my own mind and my own life. It keeps my feet on the ground. It gives the answer to every problem you’re facing, if you look for it.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>It answers the question: Why?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: God loves us. That’s why he created us and gave us free will. Kind of like a farmer watching his chickens to see what they’re going to do. It desires that we all come back to him. That’s the way I think, that’s my God.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>I’ve heard you recite “The Cowboy’s Prayer.” Could you tell us what that means to you?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: It was written by a guy named Badger Clark, in the ’30s. I don’t remember it all by heart. But you can get the spirit of it:</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Lord, I’ve never lived where churches grow.<br/> I’ve loved creation better as it stood.<br/> The day you finished it so long ago,<br/> You looked upon your work and called it good.<br/> Others seemed to find you in the light<br/> That sifted down through tinted windowpanes<br/> And yet I feel your presence here tonight<br/> In this dim, quiet starlight on the plains.”</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">That’s part of “The Cowboy’s Prayer.”</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>That speaks of nature and God’s presence.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: Yes. Someone told me another definition of God is “Great Outdoors.”</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>What characteristics are most important for success?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: I could go by a lot of catch phrases like, “Know your own self,” “To thine own self be true.” Self-esteem and perseverance and confidence are all important, but the first thing is to know what you want to do. Set that goal out there and never lose sight of it, and work toward it. And know that there are going to be byways and sidetracks, but keep persevering and keep on, and do what you know that you want to do.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>How do you know what you want to do?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: A person knows when it just seems to feel right to them, something they want to do. Feeling has still got a lot to do with it.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Instinct is a very important thing to you.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Cash: Instinct is vital, yes. Listen to your heart.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Thank you so much for speaking with us today.</b></span></p> </div>  </aside>  <div class="read-more__toggle collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#full-interview"><a href="#" class="sans-4 btn">Read full interview</a></div> </article> </section> </div> <div class="tab-pane" id="gallery" role="tabpanel"> <section class="isotope-wrapper">  <header class="toolbar toolbar--gallery bg-white clearfix"> <div class="col-md-6"> <div class="serif-4">Johnny Cash Gallery</div> </div> <div class="col-md-6 text-md-right isotope-toolbar"> <ul class="list-unstyled list-inline m-b-0 text-brand-primary sans-4"> <li class="list-inline-item" data-filter=".photo"><i class="icon-icon_camera"></i>23 photos</li> </ul> </div> </header> <div class="isotope-gallery isotope-box single-achiever__gallery clearfix"> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.671875" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-johnny-cash-richard-nixon_5.jpg" data-image-caption="Johnny Cash meets President Nixon at the White House, 1972. (UPI/Bettmann)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-johnny-cash-richard-nixon_5" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-johnny-cash-richard-nixon_5-380x255.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-johnny-cash-richard-nixon_5.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.2163742690058" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Johnny_Cash_Sun_Records_promotional_portrait.jpg" data-image-caption="Johnny Cash Sun Records promotional portrait, December 1954. (Public Domain)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-Johnny_Cash_Sun_Records_promotional_portrait" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Johnny_Cash_Sun_Records_promotional_portrait-312x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Johnny_Cash_Sun_Records_promotional_portrait.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.69466882067851" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Johnny_Cash_and_The_Tennessee_Three_1963.jpg" data-image-caption="Johnny Cash and The Tennessee Three, 1963. (Public Domain)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-Johnny_Cash_and_The_Tennessee_Three_1963" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Johnny_Cash_and_The_Tennessee_Three_1963-380x264.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Johnny_Cash_and_The_Tennessee_Three_1963.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.79078947368421" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/WP-2280-Johnny-Cash.jpg" data-image-caption="Golden Plate Awards Council member Johnny Cash with his wife, June Carter Cash, and guest of honor and classical guitarist Christopher Parkening, at the 1993 Achievement Summit in Glacier National Park, Montana." data-image-copyright="WP-2280-Johnny-Cash" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/WP-2280-Johnny-Cash-380x301.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2015/12/WP-2280-Johnny-Cash-760x601.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.3793103448276" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Johnny-Cash039.jpg" data-image-caption="Johnny Cash (Courtesy of Johnny Cash)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-Johnny Cash039" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Johnny-Cash039-276x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Johnny-Cash039-551x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.66447368421053" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-DWF15-427065.jpg" data-image-caption="Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where Johnny Cash made his first recordings in 1955. Sun Records owner Sam Phillips discovered some of America's most influential rock, country and blues artists, including Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Howlin' Wolf. (© Morris Abernathy/Corbis)" data-image-copyright="" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-DWF15-427065-380x252.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-DWF15-427065-760x505.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.78787878787879" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-cash_jack.jpg" data-image-caption="Johnny Cash and his brother Jack, who died at age 14. (Courtesy of Johnny Cash)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-cash_jack" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-cash_jack-380x299.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-cash_jack.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.76578947368421" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Cash-Johnny-Getty-2716970_10.jpg" data-image-caption="Married country singers Johnny Cash (1932 - 2003) and June Carter Cash (1929 - 2003) perform a duet on stage. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)" data-image-copyright="Johnny And June" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Cash-Johnny-Getty-2716970_10-380x291.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Cash-Johnny-Getty-2716970_10-760x582.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.3523131672598" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-BE064829.jpg" data-image-caption="Close-up publicity portrait of singer Johnny Cash, August 1970. (© Bettmann/CORBIS)" data-image-copyright="Johnny Cash" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-BE064829-281x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-BE064829-562x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.453154875717" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-7004170200.jpg" data-image-caption="Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash at the White House, where they played for President Richard Nixon, 1970. (AP Images/Charles Harrity)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-7004170200" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-7004170200-261x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-7004170200-523x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.003963011889" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-6801010320.jpg" data-image-caption="Johnny Cash and his mother, Carrie, at her home in Oakview, California, 1968. (AP Images/Gene Beley)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-6801010320" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-6801010320-378x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-6801010320-757x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.2687813021703" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-04012105461.jpg" data-image-caption="Johnny Cash and June Carter, partners in art and life. (AP Images/Dan Poush)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-04012105461" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-04012105461-300x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-04012105461-599x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.0119840213049" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-72386223.jpg" data-image-caption="Country-western singer Johnny Cash with his guitar by the wheels of a steam train. (Photo by Michael Rougier/Time-Life Pictures/Getty Images)" data-image-copyright="Country/Western singer Johnny Cash w guitar by wheels of a" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-72386223-375x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-72386223-751x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.3896396396396" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-1942_ET.jpg" data-image-caption="Johnny Cash, age ten, in 1942. (Mississippi Valley Collection)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-1942_ET" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-1942_ET-273x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-1942_ET.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.75" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordperss-Corbis42-17536519.jpg" data-image-caption="Music icons Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, Sun Records' "Million Dollar Quartet," in an impromptu jam session, 1956. (© Michael Ochs Archives/Corbis)" data-image-copyright="The Million Dollar Quartet" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordperss-Corbis42-17536519-380x285.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordperss-Corbis42-17536519-760x570.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.69466882067851" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Johnny_Cash_and_The_Tennessee_Three_1963.jpg" data-image-caption="Johnny Cash and The Tennessee Three, 1963. (Public Domain)" data-image-copyright="Johnny_Cash_and_The_Tennessee_Three_1963" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Johnny_Cash_and_The_Tennessee_Three_1963-380x264.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Johnny_Cash_and_The_Tennessee_Three_1963.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.042524005487" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-GettyImages-175590028_master.jpg" data-image-caption="Portrait of Johnny Cash at the Star Plaza Theater in Merrilville, Indiana, May 2, 1994. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)" data-image-copyright="Johnny Cash" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-GettyImages-175590028_master-364x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-GettyImages-175590028_master-729x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.66578947368421" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-GettyImages-106974103_master-Copy.jpg" data-image-caption="November 1970: Carl Perkins, Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash, and Derek &amp; The Dominos on <em>The Johnny Cash Show</em>." data-image-copyright="ABC's "The Johnny Cash Show" - File Photos" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-GettyImages-106974103_master-Copy-380x253.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-GettyImages-106974103_master-Copy-760x506.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.79210526315789" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-GettyImages-75982219_master-Copy.jpg" data-image-caption="Sun Records founder Sam Phillips with country singer/songwriter Johnny Cash, as he gives him a framed record of the song “I Walk The Line” to commemorate a milestone in album sales. The song appeared on Cash’s first album, "With His Hot Hat and Blue Guitar," which was released on May 1, 1956 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Colin Escott/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)" data-image-copyright=""I Walk The Line" Album Sales Milestone" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-GettyImages-75982219_master-Copy-380x301.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-GettyImages-75982219_master-Copy-760x602.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.66710526315789" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-AP_679265751740-Copy.jpg" data-image-caption="The childhood home, dating to the mid-1930s, of singer Johnny Cash in Dyess, Arkansas. Money and memorabilia from Johnny Cash’s family and friends have helped historians restore a significant part of the Historic Dyess Colony, a government collective built to pull Depression-era families out of poverty. Cash’s boyhood home, along with the colony’s former headquarters, reflect everyday life in a northeast Arkansas community built on once-sunken land. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)" data-image-copyright="Johnny Cash Dyess Colony" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-AP_679265751740-Copy-380x253.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-AP_679265751740-Copy-760x507.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.501976284585" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-AP_680113021-Copy.jpg" data-image-caption="1968: Country singer Johnny Cash outside Folsom Prison in California, the day he recorded his live album Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison. The album reached No. 1 on the country charts and was certified three times as Platinum." data-image-copyright="JOHNNY CASH FOLSOM PRISON" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-AP_680113021-Copy-253x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-AP_680113021-Copy-506x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.1801242236025" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-2-GettyImages-521919547_master-Copy.jpg" data-image-caption="1958: Johnny Cash recording with Columbia Records producer Don Law at Bradley Studio, which was bought by Columbia Records in 1962. (Photo by Elmer Williams/Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum/Getty Images)" data-image-copyright="Johnny Cash recording, c. 1958. Columbia Records producer Don Law partly visible at left. Bradley Studio,, which was bought by Columbia Records in 1962." data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-2-GettyImages-521919547_master-Copy-322x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-2-GettyImages-521919547_master-Copy-644x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.1463046757164" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-2-GettyImages-73908827_master-Copy.jpg" data-image-caption="1957: Country singer and songwriter Johnny Cash in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)" data-image-copyright="wp-2-GettyImages-73908827_master---Copy" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-2-GettyImages-73908827_master-Copy-332x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wp-2-GettyImages-73908827_master-Copy-663x760.jpg"></div>  </figure>    </div> </section> </div> </div> <div class="container"> <footer class="editorial-article__footer col-md-8 col-md-offset-4"> <div class="editorial-article__next-link sans-3"> <a href="#"><strong>What's next:</strong> <span class="editorial-article__next-link-title">profile</span></a> </div> <ul class="social list-unstyled list-inline ssk-group m-b-0"> <li class="list-inline-item"><a href="" class="ssk ssk-facebook" data-gtm-category="social" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Shared Achiever on Facebook"><i class="icon-icon_facebook-circle"></i></a></li> <li class="list-inline-item"><a href="" class="ssk ssk-twitter" data-gtm-category="social" 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King</div> <div class="achiever-block__known-as text-white sans-6">King of the Blues</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="text-white achiever-block__text--bottom"> <div class="achiever-block__year sans-4">Inducted in <span class="year-inducted">2004</span></div> </div> </figcaption> </figure> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="centered-blocks"> <div class="isotope-achiever the-arts be-a-performer write-music play-music " data-year-inducted="2014" data-achiever-name="King"> <div class="achiever-block view-grid"> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/carole-king/"> <figure class="ratio-container ratio-container--square bg-black"> <div class="lazyload box achiever-block__image" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/king-carole-001a-190x190.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/11/king-carole-001a-380x380.jpg"></div> <div class="achiever-block__overlay"></div> <figcaption class="text-xs-center achiever-block__text"> <div class="display--table"> <div class="display--table-cell"> <div class="achiever-block__text--center"> <div class="achiever-block__name text-brand-primary">Carole King</div> <div class="achiever-block__known-as text-white sans-6">Singer and Songwriter</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="text-white achiever-block__text--bottom"> <div class="achiever-block__year sans-4">Inducted in <span class="year-inducted">2014</span></div> </div> </figcaption> </figure> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="centered-blocks"> <div class="isotope-achiever the-arts the-arts poverty racism-discrimination athletic shy-introverted be-a-performer play-music " data-year-inducted="2011" data-achiever-name="Mathis"> <div class="achiever-block view-grid"> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/johnny-mathis/"> <figure class="ratio-container ratio-container--square bg-black"> <div class="lazyload box achiever-block__image" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/mathis_760_ac-190x190.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/03/mathis_760_ac-380x380.jpg"></div> <div class="achiever-block__overlay"></div> <figcaption class="text-xs-center achiever-block__text"> <div class="display--table"> <div class="display--table-cell"> <div class="achiever-block__text--center"> <div class="achiever-block__name text-brand-primary">Johnny Mathis</div> <div class="achiever-block__known-as text-white sans-6">Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="text-white achiever-block__text--bottom"> <div class="achiever-block__year sans-4">Inducted in <span class="year-inducted">2011</span></div> </div> </figcaption> </figure> </a> </div> </div> </div> </footer> </div> </div> </article> <div class="modal image-modal" id="imageModal" tabindex="-1" role="dialog" aria-labelledby="imageModal" aria-hidden="true"> <div class="close-container"> <div class="close icon-icon_x" 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Black, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/elizabeth-blackburn/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Elizabeth Blackburn, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/david-boies-2/"><span class="achiever-list-name">David Boies</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/norman-e-borlaug/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Norman E. Borlaug, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/benjamin-c-bradlee/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Benjamin C. Bradlee</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/sergey-brin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sergey Brin</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/carter-j-brown/"><span class="achiever-list-name">J. Carter Brown</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/linda-buck/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Linda B. Buck, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/carol-burnett/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carol Burnett</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/george-h-w-bush/"><span class="achiever-list-name">George H. W. Bush</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/susan-butcher/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Susan Butcher</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/sir-michael-caine/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir Michael Caine</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/james-cameron/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James Cameron</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/benjamin-s-carson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Benjamin S. Carson, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/jimmy-carter/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jimmy Carter</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/johnny-cash/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Johnny Cash</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/william-j-clinton/"><span class="achiever-list-name">William J. Clinton</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/francis-s-collins/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/denton-a-cooley/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Denton A. Cooley, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/francis-ford-coppola/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Francis Ford Coppola</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/ray-dalio/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ray Dalio</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/olivia-de-havilland/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dame Olivia de Havilland</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/michael-e-debakey-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Michael E. DeBakey, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/michael-dell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Michael S. Dell</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/ron-dennis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ron Dennis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/joan-didion/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Joan Didion</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/david-herbert-donald-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">David Herbert Donald, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/david-doubilet/"><span class="achiever-list-name">David Doubilet</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/jennifer-a-doudna-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jennifer A. Doudna, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/rita-dove/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Rita Dove</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/sylvia-earle/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sylvia Earle, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/elbaradei/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mohamed ElBaradei</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/gertrude-elion/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Gertrude B. Elion, M.Sc.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/larry-j-ellison/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Larry J. Ellison</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/nora-ephron/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Nora Ephron</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/julius-erving/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Julius Erving</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/tony-fadell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Tony Fadell</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/paul-farmer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Paul Farmer, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/suzanne-farrell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Suzanne Farrell</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/anthony-s-fauci-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/sally-field/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sally Field</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/lord-norman-foster/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lord Norman Foster</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/aretha-franklin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Aretha Franklin</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/milton-friedman-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Milton Friedman, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/carlos-fuentes/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carlos Fuentes</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/athol-fugard/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Athol Fugard</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/peter-gabriel/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Peter Gabriel</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/ernest-j-gaines/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ernest J. Gaines</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/william-h-gates-iii/"><span class="achiever-list-name">William H. Gates III</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/leymah-gbowee/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Leymah Gbowee</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/frank-gehry/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frank O. Gehry</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/murray-gell-mann-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Murray Gell-Mann, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/carlos-ghosn/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carlos Ghosn</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/vince-gill/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Vince Gill</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/ruth-bader-ginsburg/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/louise-gluck/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Louise Glück</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/whoopi-goldberg/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Whoopi Goldberg</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/jane-goodall/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dame Jane Goodall</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/doris-kearns-goodwin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Doris Kearns Goodwin, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/mikhail-s-gorbachev/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mikhail S. Gorbachev</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/nadine-gordimer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Nadine Gordimer</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/stephen-jay-gould/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Stephen Jay Gould, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/carol-greider-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carol W. Greider, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/john-grisham/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Grisham</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/sir-john-gurdon/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir John Gurdon</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/dorothy-hamill/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dorothy Hamill</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/demis-hassabis-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Demis Hassabis, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/lauryn-hill/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lauryn Hill</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/sir-edmund-hillary/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir Edmund Hillary</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/reid-hoffman/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Reid Hoffman</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/khaled-hosseini/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Khaled Hosseini, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/ron-howard/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ron Howard</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/john-hume/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Hume</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/louis-ignarro-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Louis Ignarro, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/daniel-inouye/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Daniel K. Inouye</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/jeremy-irons/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jeremy Irons</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/john-irving/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Irving</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/kazuo-ishiguro/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir Kazuo Ishiguro</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/sir-peter-jackson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir Peter Jackson</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/donald-c-johanson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Donald C. Johanson, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/frank-m-johnson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frank M. Johnson, Jr.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/philip-johnson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Philip C. Johnson</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/chuck-jones/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Chuck Jones</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/james-earl-jones/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James Earl Jones</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/quincy-jones/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Quincy Jones</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/beverly-joubert/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Beverly Joubert</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/dereck-joubert/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dereck Joubert</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/paul-kagame/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Paul Kagame</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/thomas-keller-2/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Thomas Keller</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/anthony-m-kennedy/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Anthony M. Kennedy</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/carole-king/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carole King</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/b-b-king/"><span class="achiever-list-name">B.B. King</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/coretta-scott-king/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Coretta Scott King</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/henry-kissinger-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Henry A. Kissinger, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/willem-j-kolff/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Willem J. Kolff, M.D., Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/wendy-kopp/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Wendy Kopp</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/henry-r-kravis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Henry R. Kravis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/nicholas-d-kristof/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Nicholas D. Kristof</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/mike-krzyzewski/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mike Krzyzewski</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/ray-kurzwell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ray Kurzweil</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/eric-lander-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Eric S. Lander, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/robert-s-langer-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Robert S. Langer, Sc.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/richard-leakey/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Richard E. Leakey</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/leon-lederman-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Leon Lederman, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/robert-lefkowitz-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Robert J. Lefkowitz, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/congressman-john-r-lewis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Congressman John R. Lewis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/maya-lin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Maya Lin</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/george-lucas/"><span class="achiever-list-name">George Lucas</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/paul-b-maccready-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Paul B. MacCready, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/norman-mailer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Norman Mailer</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/peyton-manning/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Peyton Manning</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/wynton-marsalis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Wynton Marsalis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/john-c-mather-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John C. Mather, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/johnny-mathis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Johnny Mathis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/ernst-mayr-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ernst Mayr, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/willie-mays/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Willie Mays</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/frank-mccourt/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frank McCourt</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/david-mccullough/"><span class="achiever-list-name">David McCullough</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/audra-mcdonald/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Audra McDonald</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/admiral-william-h-mcraven/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Admiral William H. McRaven, USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/w-s-merwin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">W. S. Merwin</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/reinhold-messner/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Reinhold Messner</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/james-a-michener/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James A. Michener</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/marvin-minsky-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Marvin Minsky, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/mario-j-molina-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mario J. Molina, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/n-scott-momaday-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">N. Scott Momaday, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/story-musgrave/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Story Musgrave, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/ralph-nader/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ralph Nader</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/peggy-noonan/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Peggy Noonan</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/jessye-norman/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jessye Norman</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/tommy-norris/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lt. Thomas R. Norris, USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/joyce-carol-oates/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Joyce Carol Oates</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/pierre-omidyar/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Pierre Omidyar</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/jimmy-page/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jimmy Page</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/larry-page/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Larry Page</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/arnold-palmer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Arnold Palmer</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/leon-panetta/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Leon Panetta</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/rosa-parks/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Rosa Parks</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/suzan-lori-parks/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Suzan-Lori Parks</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/linus-pauling/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Linus C. Pauling, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/shimon-peres/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Shimon Peres</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/itzhak-perlman/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Itzhak Perlman</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/general-david-petraeus/"><span class="achiever-list-name">General David H. Petraeus, USA</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/sidney-poitier/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sidney Poitier</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/general-colin-l-powell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">General Colin L. Powell, USA</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/harold-prince/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Harold Prince</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/venki-ramakrishnan-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Venki Ramakrishnan, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/lord-martin-rees/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lord Martin Rees</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/lloyd-richards/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lloyd Richards</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/sally-ride-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sally K. Ride, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/sonny-rollins/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sonny Rollins</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/anthony-romero/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Anthony D. Romero</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/james-rosenquist/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James Rosenquist</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/pete-rozelle/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Pete Rozelle</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/bill-russell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Bill Russell</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/albie-sachs/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Albie Sachs</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/oliver-sacks-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Oliver Sacks, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/jonas-salk-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jonas Salk, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/frederick-sanger-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frederick Sanger, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/george-b-schaller-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">George B. Schaller, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/barry-scheck/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Barry Scheck</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/richard-evans-schultes-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Richard Evans Schultes, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/general-h-norman-schwarzkopf/"><span class="achiever-list-name">General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, USA</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/stephen-schwarzman/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Stephen A. Schwarzman</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/glenn-t-seaborg-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Glenn T. Seaborg, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/neil-sheehan/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Neil Sheehan</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/admiral-alan-shepard-jr/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Admiral Alan B. Shepard, Jr., USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/ellen-johnson-sirleaf/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ellen Johnson Sirleaf</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/carlos-slim/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carlos Slim Helú</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/frederick-w-smith/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frederick W. Smith</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/stephen-sondheim/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Stephen Sondheim</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/sonia-sotomayor/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sonia Sotomayor</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/wole-soyinka/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Wole Soyinka</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/esperanza-spalding/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Esperanza Spalding</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/martha-stewart/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Martha Stewart</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/admiral-james-b-stockdale/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Admiral James B. Stockdale, USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/hilary-swank/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Hilary Swank</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/amy-tan/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Amy Tan</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/dame-kiri-te-kanawa/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dame Kiri Te Kanawa</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/edward-teller-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Edward Teller, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/twyla-tharp/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Twyla Tharp</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/wayne-thiebaud/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Wayne Thiebaud</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/lt-michael-e-thornton-usn/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lt. Michael E. Thornton, USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/clyde-tombaugh/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Clyde Tombaugh</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/charles-h-townes-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Charles H. Townes, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/david-trimble/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lord David Trimble</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/ted-turner/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Robert Edward (Ted) Turner</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/desmond-tutu/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Archbishop Desmond Tutu</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/john-updike/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Updike</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/gore-vidal/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Gore Vidal</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/antonio-villaraigosa/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Antonio Villaraigosa</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/lech-walesa/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lech Walesa</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/herschel-walker/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Herschel Walker</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/alice-waters/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Alice Waters</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/james-d-watson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James D. Watson, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/andrew-weil-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Andrew Weil, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/leslie-h-wexner/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Leslie H. Wexner</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/elie-wiesel/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Elie Wiesel</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/edward-o-wilson-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Edward O. Wilson, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/oprah-winfrey/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Oprah Winfrey</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/tom-wolfe/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Tom Wolfe</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/john-wooden/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Wooden</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/bob-woodward/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Bob Woodward</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/shinya-yamanaka-m-d-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Shinya Yamanaka, M.D., Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/general-chuck-yeager/"><span class="achiever-list-name">General Chuck Yeager, USAF</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/achiever/andrew-young/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Andrew J. Young</span></a> </li> </ul> <div class="list__close"></div> </div> <div class="col-sm-6 col-lg-3"> <ul id="menu-footer-menu-col-1" class="menu list-unstyled"><li class="menu-item menu-item-has-children menu-our-history"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/our-history/">Our History</a> <ul class="sub-menu"> <li class="menu-item menu-about-the-academy"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/our-history/">About the Academy</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-academy-patrons"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/our-history/patrons/">Academy Patrons</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-delegate-alumni"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235228/https://achievement.org/our-history/alumni/">Delegate Alumni</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-directors-our-team"><a 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