WASHINGTON (AP) — Johnny Cash Today, he is one of the most famous politicians, pioneers and activists in American history, as he was the first professional musician to be honored with a statue in the U.S. Capitol.
Among the several hundred guests gathered for the statue’s unveiling Tuesday were members of Congress from both parties and members of the Cash family, who shared their memories of a man who grew up on an Arkansas cotton farm and turned his love of music into a decades-long career giving voice to the struggles and triumphs of ordinary Americans.
“Some may ask: Why should a musician have a statue here in the halls of the great American Republic?” Speaker of the House of Representatives Michael Johnson he said at the unveiling ceremony. “The answer is quite simple. It’s because America is about more than laws and politics.”
Each state selects two statues to be placed in the Capitol. The Cash statue is the second new figure Arkansas has sent to replace two existing images that have represented the state in the U.S. Capitol for more than 100 years. Another statue depicting the civil rights leader Daisy Bates was introduced at the Capitol earlier this year. Bates was a mentor to the nine black children who desegregated Little Rock Central High School in 1957.
The state parliament in 2019 was elected to replace Arkansas’s two previous statues, depicting little-known figures from the 18th and 19th centuries, featuring Bates and Cash.
Cash, known as “The Man in Black,” was a lively storyteller who sang songs such as “I Walk The Line,” “Ring of Fire,” “Jackson” and “A Boy Named Sue” in a deep voice. The statue shows the singer with a guitar slung over his back and a Bible in his hand. Sculptor from Little Rock Kevin Kresse the statue was created.
Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said artistic creativity was an important part of the country’s growth, and Cash’s “substance” and “pride” had inspired generations of artists from every genre imaginable. He cited singers like Bob Dylan And Snoop Dogg about the impact of cash.
“He called Johnny Cash a real American gangster. That was a compliment from Snoop Doggy Dogg,” Jeffries said as the crowd laughed. “What a life, what a legend, what a legacy.”
Governor of Arkansas. Sarah Huckabee Sanders She led a group of Arkansas legislators at the ceremony. She said she grew up in a musical family where “after God and country came Johnny Cash.” She mentioned that Cash struggled with addiction but later performed for inmates and had a deep religious faith. She described him as a “Christian hymn singer” who also experienced difficult times.
“While so much is wrong in today’s world, Johnny Cash was very real,” Sanders said.
Cash’s daughter Rosanne Cash said her father considered the statue “the greatest” honor of his life. She said her father’s tough upbringing instilled in him a strong work ethic and that he loved the idea of America as a place of dreams and refuge.
“This man was a living story of redemption,” said Rosanne Cash. “He faced the darkness and faced it with love.”
Cash was born in Kingsland, a small town about 100 kilometers south of Little Rock. He died in 2003 at the age of 71. Achievements This includes 90 million records sold worldwide in the genres of country, rock, blues, folk and gospel. He is one of the few artists to have been inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Cash’s statue will be the newest addition to the Capitol since the statue of the reverend from North Carolina. Billy Graham was unveiled in May.
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Associated Press writer Andrew DeMillo reported from Little Rock.
