EARLY YEARS
FEB. 26, 1932: J.R. Cash is born in Kingland, Ark., to sharecropper Ray Cash and Carrie Rivers Cash. He has five siblings.
JULY 1950: Cash graduates from high school and enlists in the Air Force, where he's assigned as a radio operator. At a Texas air base, he meets his future wife, high school senior Vivian Liberto. While stationed in Germany, he founds his first country band, The Landsberg Barbarians.
JULY 1954: After his discharge, Cash moves to Memphis, Tenn.
AUGUST 1954: Marries Liberto. Within months, Elvis Presley helps Cash to get an audition at Sun, where he and the Tennessee Two (Luther Monroe Perkins and Marshall Grant) record originals "Wide Open Road" backed with (b/w) "You're My Baby."
MARCH 1955: Records "Hey Porter" b/w "Cry, Cry, Cry," which outsells Presley in Memphis and reaches No. 14 on Billboard's country-western charts. Cash earns his first royalty check, for $2.41.
MAY 24, 1955: Rosanne Cash is born. Within months, Cash performs in Memphis with Presley and lands a regular radio spot. "Folsom Prison Blues" (originally intended for Tennessee Ernie Ford) b/w "So Doggone Lonesome" is released to coincide with his debut on "Louisiana Hayride."
CAREER TAKES OFF
1956: "I Walk the Line" b/w "Get Rhythm" sells 2 million units and peaks at No. 1 country, Top 20 pop.
1958: After a succession of pop and country hits, Cash signs with Columbia Records. "The Fabulous Johnny Cash," his first Columbia LP, hits No. 19 on the albums chart.
1959: "Hymns by Johnny Cash" is released.
1960: Plays a free concert at San Quentin prison, were 22-year-old inmate Merle Haggard watches from the front row.
1963: Moves to Greenwich Village, N.Y., epicenter of the folk scene.
1964: Cash's "Ring of Fire" album, featuring the single written by June Carter and Merle Kilgore, is certified as his first gold album. Six months later, "I Walk the Line" also goes gold.
1965: After helping to introduce Bob Dylan to national audiences by recording several of his songs, Cash plays the New York Folk Festival at Carnegie Hall. In October, he's arrested in El Paso, Texas, when customs officials find amphetamines in his guitar case. Receives a 30-day suspended jail term and pays $1,000 fine. The federal government also sues him for accidentally setting fire to 500 acres of government land.
1966: Cash narrowly survives a car crash and a drug overdose. His wife, Vivian, divorces him.
1967: Although the year begins with legendary debauchery, June Carter leads him back to Christianity and helps him to beat a drug habit.
1968: Cash and Carter marry.
1969: Cash sits in on a session from Dylan's "Nashville Skyline" and writes the album's liner notes. "The Johnny Cash Show" premieres on ABC-TV.
THE LEGACY
1970s: Wins Best Country Vocal Performance for Shel Silverstein's "A Boy Named Sue" and Best Album Notes for "Nashville Skyline." In April 1970, Cash plays at the White House. While prominent on the country music charts, Cash begins acting, with performances in "A Gunfight," with Kirk Douglas, and an episode of "Columbo." In 1977, "The Johnny Cash Show" is reprised as a summer replacement series on CBS-TV.
1980s: Cash continues recording, logging many country hits and winning more awards. His covers of songs by Harry Chapin, The Eagles and Bruce Springsteen and duets and performances with artists ranging from his daughter to Paul McCartney introduce Cash to a new generation.
1990s: Cash is lauded with more awards, and releases a string of new albums, reissues and box collections. He's inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. U2's "Zooropa," featuring Cash as guest vocalist on "The Wanderer," reaches No. 1. With hip-hop/metal producer Rick Rubin, Cash releases the folk roots album "American Recordings." The follow-up, "Unchained," includes songs by Tom Petty and Soundgarden and features accompaniment by top rock artists. In the late '90s, Cash begins suffering a neurological disorder and stops performing live.
2000s: New releases "Love, God, Murder" and "American III: Solitary Man" are joined by a string of reissues. This month, Columbia/Legacy release "The Essential Johnny Cash." Next month, the label plans to reissue several landmark Cash albums.
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