June Carter Cash

A revered figure in the history of country music, June Carter Cash was the scion of the Carter Family, one of the most influential acts in the history of country music, and later the wife and saving grace of Johnny Cash, to whom she remained married for over four decades. She began performing with her family at the age of 10, and grew into a spirited comic performer and audience favorite at the Grand Ole Opry. In 1962, she toured with and fell in love with Cash, who was in the grip of drug addiction. Despite both being married at the time, she stood by Cash, helping him through his ordeal and eventually marrying him in 1968. Carter put her own career on hold throughout the 1970s and 1980s to raise a family with Cash, though she occasionally appeared in television movies opposite her husband. In 1999, she revived her solo career with Press On, a collection of traditional country songs that earned her a Grammy. Carter died from complications following heart surgery in 2003, devastating not only Cash, who would pass on four months later, but the country music industry as a whole, which viewed her as a symbol of musical integrity and spirituality. Her life and legacy remained a testament to the healing power of music and faith in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.