John Carter Cash was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1970 as the only child from the marriage of late country music legends, Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. He grew up at his family home in Hendersonville, Tenn. He has four half-sisters from his father's first marriage — Rosanne, Kathy, Cindy, and Tara — as well as two half-sisters from his mother's first two marriages — Carlene Carter and Rosie Nix Adams. This makes Carter Cash the only son of Johnny and June. He is also the grandson of legendary singer and guitarist Maybelle Carter.
Carter Cash's parents are loved and missed by people all over the world for their famous music and their passionate love story, but to him, they're just mom and dad. And as the son of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, music was ingrained in Carter Cash's life from a very young age.
"You know music was always a part of my very lifeblood from when I was young," Carter Cash told Cowboys & Indians. "My parents put me on stage when I was 3 years old. My father would sing 'Boy Named Sue,' and at the end of that, he would call me out and he'd say, 'Here's my son, John Carter Cash.' So I would go to the stage and take a bow. That feeling — the intensity and the energy from the audience — is a beautiful thing and it stayed with me from then."
Although Carter Cash got to do and see many things as the son of such legendary artists, his favorite memories from his upbringing with his parents are the "simple" moments.
"We visited some amazing places. We met wonderful people from farmers in rural Idaho to presidents of the United States," he told VIP Jackson Magazine of his childhood. "However, the times that mean the most to me were the times I spent with them doing the simple things. We loved the outdoors and we went on fishing trips and we went into the wilderness. I'll never forget it. I'm grateful for the time that I spent with them."
Carter Cash not only grew up around music, but he inherited his parents' musical genes. The 51-year-old is a singer-songwriter himself, having released his album, We Must Believe In Magic, in 2018, but he especially enjoys working as a music producer. Carter Cash got into producing by working on his parents' early 2000's albums, and the first album he produced for his mom, 1999's Press On, took home a Grammy award. He also worked as an associate producer under Rick Rubin on the production of Johnny Cash's albums, American III: Solitary Man and American IV: The Man Comes Around, released in 2000 and 2002, respectively. Both albums won Grammy awards and the latter won three CMA Awards. He produced June Carter Cash's 2003 album, Wildwood Flower, which earned him another Grammy award, and he worked on the 2004 album, Unbroken Circle: The Musical Heritage of the Carter Family.
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Since then, Carter Cash has produced projects for a wide range of artists, including for his sister, Rosanne Cash, as well as Loretta Lynn, Sheryl Crow, Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and many more. Carter Cash has worked with Loretta Lynn the most, and says she reminds him of his late mother.
"She's so much like my mother — she truly is," he shared. "They're from around the same area and so [working] with Loretta is a beautiful experience that I had."
Carter Cash and his wife Ana Christina Cash are the owners of Cash Cabin Enterprises, LLC., and much of his work is done at the Cash Cabin Studio, where his father also worked. The music producer has also written three children's books, a biography on his mother titled Anchored In Love: An Intimate Portrait of June Carter Cash, and a book about his father titled House of Cash: The Legacies of My Father Johnny Cash. He has also dipped into the world of fantasy writing with his 2013 novel, Lupus Rex.
John Carter Cash and his wife Ana have one child, Grace June Cash, and John has three other children, Joseph John, Anna Maybelle, and Jack Ezra, from previous marriages. Just as Carter Cash's parents passed their love of music onto him, the Cash family legacy seems to be safe and sound in the hands of his children.
"My oldest son, Joseph, is playing a guitar. He's performing music," Carter Cash shared in 2018.
"My daughter Anna Maybelle, who is 17, is also playing guitar and performing," he adds. "My son Jack plays piano and is about to get into guitar lessons. He's 12 years old. My youngest is Grace June; Grace is 11 months. She's got a great musical tone in her voice, there's no doubt."
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