# Johnny Cash Dead
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-dead/201173
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 12, 2003, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-dead/201173 "2003-09-12T10:21:35Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2003, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-dead/201173/1 "2003-09-12T10:21:35Z")
Unlike John Ritter, Johnny was fairly old, and given his health he was probably lucky to live as long as he did.
Still, it’s a damn shame:
[Here’s a link](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64043-2003Sep12.html).
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### Author:  [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2003, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-dead/201173/2 "2003-09-12T10:25:01Z")
Damn! Johnny Cash was the coolest country artist ever. May he rest in peace with June.
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### Author:  [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2003, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-dead/201173/3 "2003-09-12T10:33:01Z")
im upset. live at san quentin rules.
[heres a better link](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3103164.stm)
RIP to the man in black
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### Author:  [@Cholo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cholo)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2003, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-dead/201173/4 "2003-09-12T10:35:47Z")
RIP…like Arky said, he was the coolest.
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### Author:  [@dragongirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragongirl)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2003, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-dead/201173/5 "2003-09-12T10:36:04Z")
I love Johnny Cash. I have many memories of listening to him at my grandma’s house when I was younger. Just a few days ago, I bought his latest CD.
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### Author:  [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2003, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-dead/201173/6 "2003-09-12T10:37:55Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Fiver \*
> **Unlike John Ritter, Johnny was fairly old…**
John Ritter wha…?
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### Author:  [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2003, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-dead/201173/7 "2003-09-12T10:46:13Z")
[John Ritter](http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/12/ritter.obit/index.html).
[tangent]Funny thing: since I first saw it, they changed the link from “Emmy-winning actor” to “Actor-comedian”. I didn’t know he was a comedian; isn’t that strictly someone who does standup? I mean, there are a lot of comedic actors, but that’s not the same as being a _comedian_…[/tangent]
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### Author:  [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2003, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-dead/201173/8 "2003-09-12T11:05:08Z")
Shame!
May both rest in peace.
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### Author:  [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2003, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-dead/201173/9 "2003-09-12T11:27:00Z")
I’ve been expecting to hear about Johnny Cash for a while now, but I still don’t know how to respond. I can think of very few celebrities whose deaths would bring me to tears, and yet here I am.
It’s a shame that we lost him, but it’s such a blessing that we had him.
Dr. J
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### Author:  [@The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Wrong_Girl)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2003, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-dead/201173/10 "2003-09-12T11:29:32Z")
What an awful thing to wake up to.
☹
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### Author:  [@Baggins111](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baggins111)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2003, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-dead/201173/11 "2003-09-12T11:30:20Z")
I was on my way to work this morning and was flipping through the channels and stopped on _A Boy Named Sue_ and had a ball listening to it. _Then_ the DJ came on and said that he had died. May the Man in Black rest in peace. He deserves it.
Then I was floored to hear about John Ritter.
What a sad day in the entertainment industry.
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### Author:  [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2003, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-dead/201173/12 "2003-09-12T11:32:25Z")
Another distinctive voice gone.
Thank you Johnny.
RIP.
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### Author:  [@H8\_2\_W8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H8_2_W8)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2003, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-dead/201173/13 "2003-09-12T11:49:31Z")
RIP MIB.
Even my 4 year old understands his greatness. The only music the kid will listen to, for the last year or so, is Mozart, Beethoven and Johnny Cash.
“Daddy, play the train song”
“Play the cowboy song”
“I want to hear the fire song again, please”
“Walk the line, Daddy” and so on every time he’s in my truck.
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### Author:  [@manwithaplan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manwithaplan)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2003, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-dead/201173/14 "2003-09-12T11:52:15Z")
I’ll re-post what I posted in the thread in MPSIMS.
He went so soon after his wife - funny how often that happens. In Johnny’s own words:
_Oh, no I never got over those blue eyes
I see them every where
I miss those arms that held me
When all the love was there._
Sweet dreams, Johnny and June. You’ll never have to miss someone again.
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### Author:  [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2003, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-dead/201173/15 "2003-09-12T11:54:46Z")
The man in black. Legend is not a big enough word.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2003, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-dead/201173/16 "2003-09-12T11:57:15Z")
> [@](#):
>
> What an awful thing to wake up to.
>
> ☹
This is exactly what I was going to say. It was the first thing I saw when I turned on the TV.
I expected this though, after June died.
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### Author:  [@Greywolf73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greywolf73)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2003, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-dead/201173/17 "2003-09-12T12:01:57Z")
I knew it just a matter of time after seeing the interview with him on MTV a few weeks ago. He looked so old and frail then–it was heartbreaking to watch.
This is a sad, sad day. ☹
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### Author:  [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2003, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-dead/201173/18 "2003-09-12T12:07:30Z")
Cash was simply the coolest musician of his or any other generation.
Eminem? Manson? Dre? Kid Rock? Nothing but wannabes. When Cash said he shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die, you believed he may have done just that (as a side note, one of the most chilling moments in recording history is when he sings that line on _Live from San Quentin_, and the audience, some of whom _are_ convicted murderers, cheers).
A true musical innovator, his sound evolved yet stayed true to itself, to the point where he left mainstream country behind in the dust (or mainstream country turned to crap while he stayed good, depending on you POV), and was a favorite to win several MTV awards recently. He’s covered sounds as diverse as Nine Inch Nails and Bon Jovi, and made them his own.
His last album, “When the Man Comes Around” was a fitting farewell, from the apocolyptic opening track, to Hurt, to the closing track “We’ll Meet Again”.
I hope so, Johnny. I hope so.
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### Author:  [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2003, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-dead/201173/19 "2003-09-12T12:10:00Z")
In that words of David Allen Coe: I’ve seen the Grand Old Opry, and I’ve met Johnny Cash. If that ain’t country, I’ll kiss your ass.
RIP brother John.
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### Author:  [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2003, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-dead/201173/20 "2003-09-12T12:10:22Z")
He was one of the most mesmerizing and authentic performers I’ve ever seen. He was the first musician I can remember recognizing and liking at the age of about three or four.
RIP, Johnny. ☹
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