The Last Ever Recording of Johnny Cash

Some of the most recognizable songs ever written can be attributed to Johnny Cash. Cash’s string of hits, which began with “Cry! Cry! Cry!” in 1955 and spanned multiple musical genres, was nearly unparalleled.

The Man in Black got his start as a rocker at the renowned Sun Records, but he went on to compose thoughtful folk songs about social themes and a string of country singles. In addition, Cash presented a TV show that featured a wide range of musical styles and performers. After a creative dry spell, he came back with a late-in-life career revival that showed everyone why he was such a major figure in American popular culture, to begin with.

Due to his failing health, Cash called it quits on touring in 1997, after four decades of performing. By then, Cash spent the last six years of his life recording, most notably on American III: Solitary Man and American IV: The Man Comes Around as the 2000s approached.

More problems arose when in 2003, his wife and muse June Carter passed away in May due to cardiac problems. Her death prompted her husband to fulfill her final request that he keep making music so that he could focus on anything other than his grief. And so, while Cash’s final album, American V: A Hundred Highways, featured mostly cover songs, it also featured two originals, “I Came to Believe” and “Like the 309” – the latter being the legend’s last original composition and recording.