It is quite fitting that Johnny Cash will be one of those inducted into the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame in January 2011 - since it is most likely Gospel which kept him alive for years.
Wikipedia partially defines “Gospel” as “music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life… a common theme of most gospel music is praise, worship, or thanks to God, Christ, or the Holy Spirit.”
Cash certainly had much to be thankful for. However, it hadn’t always seemed that way. According to the Official Johnny Cash website, John R. grew up picking cotton alongside his family in the fields of Arkansas. As a young adult, he worked for a Michigan automotive company before joining the U.S. Air Force. All the while, he was also trying to make it as a musician.
Although Sun Records had other plans for Cash’s earliest recordings, Gospel was his first love. This was a love born from a personal need to figure out his place in the cosmos. When John was just 12, his beloved brother was sliced to death by a mill saw. That’s the kind of experience that stays with a sensitive soul forever.
Much later in life, Cash’s abuse of drugs almost culminated in suicidal death. It was a spiritual awakening that saved him. After passing out on the floor of Nickajack Cave, Cash awoke with the feeling of God in his heart. He was safely led from the cave by a faint light and breeze that seemed divine in origin.
John R. Cash was then ready to marry the love of his life, June Carter. After her death, and shortly before his own, he spoke of their ongoing connection “somewhere between here and heaven.”
Resources
http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=611579>1=28102
http://www.gmahalloffame.org/site/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Cash
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_music
http://www.johnnycash.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arde9psKcYY
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