Behind the ‘Ring of Fire’: A Complete Timeline Of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash’s Love Story
According to their son, Johnny and June almost got divorced over his drinking and drug use
In the realm of musical romances, none are as talked about and scandalous as Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. Between the couple’s many marriages, kids, drug use and more, it makes total sense why, decades later, people are still talking about them. But who exactly are Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash and how did their love story begin and end? We dive into all of that and more below.
1956: Johnny Cash and June Carter meet for the first time
In 1956, Johnny and June were introduced backstage at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. The exact date remains unknown, but according to Charles Hirshber and Mark Zwonitzer’s 2002 biography, Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone?, the first thing Johnny told June was, “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash, and I’m going to marry you someday,” even though he was still married to Vivian Liberto Cash at the time.
Following their meeting, Johnny and June soon began touring together and fell in love shortly after.
1963: ‘Ring of Fire’ tells their love story
Written by June and originally sung by Anita Carter and then re-released by Johnny in 1966, “Ring of Fire” is widely believed to be about the two of them falling in love, even though they knew it was wrong.
“I realized that, ‘Oh my Lord! I think I’m falling in love with Johnny Cash,’ and this is the most painful thing I’ve ever gone through in my life. It is like I’m in a ring of fire, and I’m never coming out,” June said in the 2014 documentary The Winding Stream. “It’s going to kill me, because I would never have the nerve to tell him, nor do I want to tell him, nor do I want anybody to even know I’ve got these feelings.”
To this day, “Ring of Fire” remains one of Johnny’s most well-known songs.
1966-1967: Divorce clears the path for Johnny and June
It turns out Johnny wasn’t the only one who was married when he and June first got together. From 1957 to 1966, she was with soccer player Edwin Lee Nix, and the pair even had one child together.
June was also married to Carl Smith from 1952 to 1956 and had one child with him as well.
Following their respective divorces, Smith married once more before he died in 2010 at age 82, but Nix never remarried and died in 2014 at age 80.
Ten years after meeting June, Johnny decided to divorce Vivian Liberto Cash. The two had been married since 1954 and had four children together.
“I should have been relentless at saving it, as relentless as June was at destroying it,” Vivian said of her husband’s relationship with June. “I’d have given anything to hear Johnny say [he was sorry].”
Following their split, Vivian married a man named Dick Distin in 1968 and remained with him until she died in 2005. She was 71 years old and died from lung cancer.
March 1, 1968: Johnny and June finally tie the knot
After proposing several months prior in front of 7,000 people in London, Ontario, Johnny and June got married on March 1, 1968. Johnny was 36 at the time and June was 39, their marriage coming after a 13-year love affair.
“It was not a convenient time for me to fall in love with him—and it wasn’t a convenient time for him to fall in love with me,” June said in 2000. “I was miserable, and it all came to me: I’m falling in love with somebody I have no right to fall in love with.”
March 3, 1970: The birth of their son, John Carter Cash
Johnny and June welcomed their first-ever child together two years and two days after tying the knot, and decided to name him John Carter Cash as a tribute to them both.
“I think in some ways he [Johnny] never grew above his raising – or, as my mother would say, he never got too big for his britches,” John said. “But my dad had an ego just like every other performer that goes on stage.”
“[However,] he never stopped speaking what he believed in. And he never stopped singing. He never stopped.”
John is 54 years old, has been married three times and has two children.
1970s: Johnny’s drug and alcohol struggles nearly end the marriage
It’s no secret that Johnny struggled with drugs and alcohol during his time in the spotlight, but according to John, in the 1970s, things hit an all-time high and caused a lot of problems between Johnny and June.
“By the late 1970s, his addiction had taken back control of his life, and their relationship was in shambles,” John said. “It fell apart completely. They were just the paperwork away from being divorced.
“But they learned to love each other again. They forgave. And the miracle is that they had the power to forgive. They got strong again together. And, yeah, there were times when she should have left him. But my mom and dad had a way of holding dear to each other. And, I mean, this wasn’t happily ever after. They did not live happily ever after. They lived happily after all, after everything. They stayed together. And their love was stronger at the end of their life than it ever had been.”
May 15, 2003: June Carter Cash’s death
After 35 years of marriage, Johnny and June’s relationship came to an end in May 2003 after June suffered surgical complications from her valve replacement surgery.
She was 73 at the time.
“The spirit of June Carter overshadows me tonight with the love she had for me and the love I have for her,” Johnny said in July 2003. “We connect somewhere between here and Heaven. She came down for a short visit, I guess, from Heaven, to visit with me tonight to give me courage and inspiration, like she always has… I thank God for June Carter. I love her with all my heart.”
September 12, 2003: Johnny Cash’s death
Just four months after June died, Johnny passed as well. He was 71 years old and died from diabetes complications. He and June are buried next to each other and are survived by their children and 18 grandchildren.
November 18, 2005: ‘Walk the Line’ brings their story to the big screen
Two short years after Johnny’s death, Hollywood decided to release a movie about his journey to stardom and his relationship with June.
In the film, Joaquin Phoenix plays Johnny, and Reese Witherspoon plays June. Both Phoenix and Witherspoon were nominated for Oscars, and the latter won.
“It was a huge experience in my life, doing Walk the Line, the Johnny Cash story,” Witherspoon said. “The time that we spent rehearsing and learning the songs together made us really connected.”
Walk the Line is available to stream on Hulu.
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