The June Carter Cash Story

By Darlene Cah

Key Takeaways

• June Carter Cash won five Grammy Awards
• She was Johnny Cash’s second wife
• June Carter was friends with Elvis Presley

Overview

Singer, songwriter and five-time Grammy Award winner, June Carter Cash performed with the groundbreaking group, the Carter Family. She was the second wife of country music legend, Johnny Cash.

Early Life

June Carter Cash was born Valerie June Carter in Virginia on June 23, 1929, to Appalachian folk singer Maybelle and husband Ezra Carter. Maybelle, along with June’s aunt Sara and uncle A.P. Carter made up the pioneering country group, the Carter Family. Ezra Carter managed the band, and June followed in their musical footsteps, performing with the band at age 10.

In 1943, the Carter Family disbanded, and Ezra regrouped and rebranded the act focusing on Maybelle and their three daughters, Helen, Anita and June, calling them “The Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle.” They performed in Richmond, Virginia, and often toured throughout Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania.

By age 16, June not only played music with the band, but she was also their announcer, and she voiced radio commercials. At this time, she discovered a gift that set her apart from but added to the family’s popularity—comedy. She developed a character called Aunt Polly to the delight of audiences. June was still in high school.

Later, the family moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. There they met Chet Atkins, who became their lead guitar player. When the Carters moved their base to Missouri, Chet followed. In 1950, they got the invitation every country music performer coveted. They were going to Nashville, to the Grand Ole Opry, and June Carter’s life changed forever.

A Star Begins to Shine

In the years that followed the first performance at the Opry, June continued to work with the family, and solo as a singer and songwriter. She studied acting at the prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse drama school in New York, and appeared on popular television shows including Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Little House on the Prairie, and in the Gunsmoke episode, “The Man Who Would Be Marshal,” as Clarise, a Long Branch Saloon employee.

She appeared in several movies, most notable among them, Stagecoach (1986), a remake of the 1939 John Wayne classic Western, The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James (1986), and The Apostle (1997) with Robert Duvall.

She married and divorced, and married again, having two daughters, one from each union. June became friends with Patsy Cline. They even babysat for each other. And she ventured outside her country roots to trade songs with singer Eartha Kitt, even recording one of Kitt’s songs called, “The Heel.”

Career and Personal Life Entwine

In 1956, June joined Elvis Presley on tour. They became friends, and on July 7, at the Grand Ole Opry, June met another of Presley’s good friends—Johnny Cash. Their attraction to each other was undeniable. She joined his tour in 1962. Johnny was already a well-known country star, and now, June got a taste of true fame, and also true love, but she and Cash were married to other people. Tormented by her situation, June expressed her feelings by writing. Her words would become one of Johnny Cash’s greatest hits, “Ring of Fire.”

In 1966, they divorced their respective partners, and in 1968 June Carter and Johnny Cash married, and welcomed a son, John Carter Cash, in 1970. While Johnny was now enjoying worldwide fame, June stepped out of the limelight. Though they continued to collaborate musically to critical acclaim, and winning numerous industry awards, June dedicated herself to their marriage. Like every couple, they enjoyed good times and faced struggles and heartbreak. Despite the difficulties, especially Johnny’s addiction to amphetamines and barbiturates, the couple remained dedicated to each other.

"I have always enjoyed being a part of [Johnny’s] life,” June said in 2002, “I've always loved him, and he's always loved me."

Johnny gave June credit for helping him overcome his habit. For June, family came first, from preserving the Carter Family’s legacy in country music history to her 35 year-long marriage to Johnny. An excerpt from her bio on the June Carter Cash website reads, “… June was the rock that kept her family together, choosing the role of ‘holder-upper’ over her career.”

At age 70, in 1999, June stepped out of Johnny’s shadow, and released the solo album, “Press On.” It won a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album.

"I've been really happy just traveling and being Mrs. Johnny Cash all these years,” June said, “But I'm also really happy and surprised that someone wanted me to make another album, and I'm real proud of what I've done."

She was posthumously inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame in 2009, and into the Country Music Hall of Fame in March 2025.

June Carter Cash died on May 15, 2003, a week after undergoing heart surgery. Johnny Cash died just four months later.