Country's Outlaw: Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash was active as a country music artist from 1954 - 2003. He is especially famous as a member of the subgenre Outlaw Country which blends country instruments with rock and folk rhythms and introspective lyrics.

Country music may be a surprising addition to this exhibit. Country as a genre is not apolitical, but it usually leans toward support of conservative causes. Johnny Cash is an outlier among traditional country stars, in that he supported several progressive causes throughout his career – ranging from Native Americans’ issues to intergenerational struggles to prison reform.

Cash defied Columbia Records at least twice in his career, both in his promotion of the song “The Ballad of Ira Hayes” and the album At Folsom Prison. By the time he took these measures, he was already a successful artist and his album I Walk the Line had gone gold in the United States, providing him the buffer he needed to take such a risk.