50 Fun Facts About June Carter Cash

In which state was June Carter born, at Maces Spring, in 1929?

June Carter was born in Maces Spring, Virginia, on June 23, 1929, in the Clinch Mountain country of Scott County, the second daughter of Maybelle Carter.

What was June's actual first name?

She was born Valerie June Carter on June 23, 1929, and went by her middle name, June, for her whole career.

In which city did the original Carter Family first record for Ralph Peer in August 1927?

Ralph Peer's Bristol sessions of August 1927 in Bristol, Tennessee produced the Carter Family's first six sides for Victor, including 'Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow'.

How many Grammy Awards did June Carter Cash win in her lifetime and posthumously?

Five in total: two duet Grammys with Johnny Cash (1968 and 1971), one for Press On in 2000, and two in 2004 for the posthumous Wildwood Flower.

Which instrument did June play in the Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle?

June's instrument in the Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle was the Autoharp, a chorded zither she strummed while singing; she also played guitar, banjo and harmonica.

What was the name of June Carter's signature comic character in the family act?

Aunt Polly was the rustic comic character June played in the Carter Sisters' stage and radio shows, her clowning a fixture of the act from the 1940s.

Which future Nashville legend was the Carter Sisters' guitarist and the reason the Opry initially refused them?

Chet Atkins played guitar for the act from 1949; Nashville's session guitarists feared losing work to him, so the Opry balked until Maybelle insisted and it relented in 1950.

In which city was the Carter Sisters' radio act based, on station KWTO, in 1949?

KWTO in Springfield, Missouri carried the act in 1949, after earlier stints at WRVA in Richmond and WNOX in Knoxville; from Springfield they moved to the Grand Ole Opry in 1950.

Which famous film director saw June at the Grand Ole Opry in 1955 and encouraged her to study acting?

Elia Kazan, the director of On the Waterfront, saw her Grand Ole Opry act in 1955 and urged her to study acting, which she went on to do in New York.

June studied acting in New York with Sanford Meisner and which famous Method teacher?

Lee Strasberg, the Actors Studio's famed Method teacher, and Sanford Meisner taught June in New York in the mid-1950s, before her first television acting roles.

In which Robert Duvall film of the late 1990s did June play 'Momma' Dewey?

The Apostle, which Robert Duvall wrote, directed and starred in, cast June as the mother of his Pentecostal preacher Sonny; the role earned Duvall a Best Actor Oscar nomination.

On which 1990s TV drama did June play Sister Ruth, wife of Johnny Cash's character Kid Cole?

Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman cast Johnny Cash as Kid Cole and June as his wife Sister Ruth; its star Jane Seymour's husband James Keach later produced Walk the Line.

'Ring of Fire' was co-written by June Carter and which songwriter?

Merle Kilgore, a singer-songwriter who later managed Hank Williams Jr., co-wrote it with June, who drew the lyric from her turbulent feelings for Cash while he was married to someone else.

Who was the first singer to record 'Ring of Fire', in 1962?

Anita Carter, June's younger sister, cut the song first as '(Love's) Ring of Fire' in 1962; when her single went nowhere, Cash recorded his own version the next year.

How many weeks did Johnny Cash's 'Ring of Fire' spend at number one on the country chart in 1963?

Seven weeks at number one on Billboard's country chart in 1963 made 'Ring of Fire' Cash's biggest hit to that point; it also reached number 17 on the Hot 100.

Who claimed Cash gave June half the 'Ring of Fire' credit because 'she needs the money'?

Vivian said Cash told her he wrote it with Kilgore and Curly Lewis while fishing.

June's first notable studio duet with Johnny Cash, in 1964, was on which Bob Dylan song?

It Ain't Me Babe, Cash's 1964 single with June on harmony, reached the country top ten and preceded their first duet hit 'Jackson' by three years.

'Jackson' (1967) was written by Billy Edd Wheeler and which half of a famous songwriting duo?

Jerry Leiber, of Leiber and Stoller, co-wrote 'Jackson' under the pseudonym Gaby Rodgers; Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood had a pop hit with it the same summer of 1967.

What did June and Johnny's recording of 'Jackson' win at the 1968 Grammys?

Best Country & Western Performance by a Duo or Group went to 'Jackson' at the 10th Grammy Awards in 1968; the single had peaked at number two on the country chart.

June and Johnny won a second duet Grammy in 1971 for their version of which Tim Hardin song?

If I Were a Carpenter, Tim Hardin's folk ballad that Bobby Darin took into the pop top ten in 1966, gave the Cashes a country top-five hit and their second duet Grammy.

The couple's first co-billed collaboration album, released in 1967, was called what?

Carryin' On with Johnny Cash and June Carter, released in 1967, included 'Jackson' and 'Long-Legged Guitar Pickin' Man'; a second co-billed album, Johnny Cash and His Woman, followed in 1973.

June was a regular on The Johnny Cash Show during which years?

1969 to 1971 were the years ABC aired The Johnny Cash Show from Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, with June and the Carter Family as regulars alongside the Statler Brothers and Carl Perkins.

How many solo albums did June Carter Cash record in her lifetime?

Three solo albums: a 1975 country-folk debut, Press On in 1999, and Wildwood Flower, cut in 2002 and released after her death in 2003.

What was the title of June's first solo album, released in 1975?

Appalachian Pride, released on Columbia in 1975, was June's first solo album; its follow-up, Press On, did not arrive until 24 years later in 1999.

June's 1999 record Press On won a Grammy in which category?

Best Traditional Folk Album went to Press On at the 2000 Grammy Awards; the record includes June's own late-life reading of 'Ring of Fire'.

June won a posthumous Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for which Carter Family standard?

Keep on the Sunny Side, the Carter Family's 1928 theme song, won June the 2004 Grammy for her Wildwood Flower version, awarded the February after her death.

Who produced June's final album, Wildwood Flower?

John was also associate producer on his father's American III and American IV albums.

One of June's last appearances was a silent role in the video for which 2003 Johnny Cash single?

Hurt, Cash's cover of the Nine Inch Nails song produced by Rick Rubin, has a Mark Romanek video in which June watches her husband from the stairs in silence.

June's first husband, whom she married in 1952, was which country singer?

Carl Smith, the honky-tonk star of 'Let's Live a Little' and 'Hey Joe!', married June in 1952; they divorced in 1956.

June's daughter from her first marriage became a country star under what name?

Carlene Carter, born Rebecca Carlene Smith in 1955, took her mother's family name and was married to English singer-songwriter Nick Lowe from 1979 to 1990.

June's second husband, Edwin 'Rip' Nix, had what job?

Police officer and former footballer Edwin 'Rip' Nix married June in 1957; their daughter Rosie Nix Adams was born in 1958 and the marriage ended in divorce in 1966.

Where did Johnny Cash propose to June, on stage, in 1968?

London, Ontario's London Gardens arena was where Cash stopped the show on February 22, 1968 to propose; June accepted in front of the crowd and they married days later.

In which town were June and Johnny married on March 1, 1968?

Franklin, Kentucky, just across the state line from Nashville, hosted their wedding on March 1, 1968; the marriage lasted 35 years, until June's death in 2003.

What was the title of June Carter Cash's 1979 memoir?

Among My Klediments was June's first memoir, published in 1979; she followed it with a second book, From the Heart, while Man in Black is Johnny's own 1975 autobiography.

June and Johnny Cash funded an SOS Children's Village orphanage near their second home in which country?

Jamaica was where the Cashes kept Cinnamon Hill, their home near Montego Bay, and they helped fund the SOS Children's Village at nearby Barrett Town.

June died in May 2003 after complications from what?

Heart valve replacement surgery in Nashville in early May 2003 led to complications; June died on May 15, aged 73, and Johnny Cash followed her four months later.

Who said at June's funeral: 'If being a wife were a corporation, June would have been a CEO'?

Rosanne Cash, the eldest of Johnny's four daughters from his first marriage and June's stepdaughter, delivered the eulogy containing that line at the May 2003 funeral.

Who played June in the 2005 film Walk the Line?

Reese Witherspoon sang all her own vocals as June and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for the role.

Who directed Walk the Line?

James Mangold, who later made Logan and Ford v Ferrari, directed and co-wrote Walk the Line, which earned both its leads Oscar nominations for playing the Cashes.

Which singer played June in the 2013 Lifetime television film Ring of Fire?

Jewel, the Alaskan-raised singer-songwriter of 'Who Will Save Your Soul', played June opposite Matt Ross as Johnny in the Lifetime film, which premiered in 2013.

In which year was June Carter Cash inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame?

2025 was the year the Country Music Hall of Fame elected June in its Veterans Era category, 22 years after her death, in a class announced that March.

The 2024 documentary about her life, nominated for a Grammy for Best Music Film, has what title?

June, a feature documentary released on Paramount+ in January 2024, traces her life from the Carter Family to Johnny Cash and was a Best Music Film nominee at the following year's Grammys.

Which comedy duo recorded a hit parody of 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' with June in 1949?

Homer and Jethro, the hillbilly comedy duo, cut a tongue-in-cheek 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' with June for RCA Victor in 1949; it reached the country top ten and crossed to the pop chart.

Maybelle and her daughters joined which radio show on Richmond's WRVA in the late 1940s?

Old Dominion Barn Dance, WRVA's Saturday-night show hosted by Sunshine Sue Workman, gave the act its Richmond base in the late 1940s before the move to WNOX in Knoxville.

June and her first husband Carl Smith wrote which song together?

Time's A-Wastin', a playful duet the newlyweds wrote and recorded together in the early 1950s, was later revived by June and Johnny Cash, who sang it as a duet in the 1960s.

Where were the recording sessions for the posthumous album Wildwood Flower held in September 2002?

The Carter estate in Hiltons, Virginia, the family homeplace, hosted the September 2002 sessions; the album, released with video extracts of them, went on to win two Grammys.

Which 1963 Johnny Cash single about a bullfighter did June co-write with him?

The Matador, a 1963 Columbia single about a bullfighter who loses his love to the crowd's adulation, was co-written by Cash and June and reached the country top ten.

Who directed the 2024 documentary June?

Kristen Vaurio directed the Paramount+ documentary, which premiered in January 2024 and pairs archive performances with family interviews, June's children serving among its executive producers.

Which two men were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame alongside June?

Kenny Chesney and Tony Brown, the Modern Era Artist and Non-Performer honorees, were elected in the same class as June, who went in as the Veterans Era Artist.

In what year did Maybelle form 'The Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle' after the original trio stopped recording?

1943 was the year the original Carter Family trio disbanded and Maybelle launched the new act with her three daughters on Richmond radio.