Johnny Cash Statue Unveiled at US Capitol, Includes Subtle Nod to His Devout Christian Faith
On September 24, 2024, a statue of the legendary American musician Johnny Cash was unveiled at the U.S. Capitol, symbolizing Arkansas’s representation alongside a statue of civil rights leader Daisy Bates. During the ceremony, House Speaker Mike Johnson highlighted Cash’s significance, stating that America embodies more than just laws and politics, emphasizing the cultural importance of Cash as an artist and icon. Roseanne Cash, Johnny’s daughter, referred to her father as a “living redemption story” who faced darkness with love. She highlighted his complex nature, stating he opposed the Vietnam War yet performed for troops, and remained principled in his artistic choices. Other family members echoed sentiments about his deep faith and resilience throughout life’s challenges. Cash’s son, John Carter-Cash, praised his father’s courage to stand up for his beliefs, underscoring the values of forgiveness and creative perseverance that he instilled in his family. The statue is notable as the first of a professional musician at the Capitol, with celebrations recognizing Cash’s lasting impact on American culture.
Portraying one of the American heartland’s greatest musical legends with a bowed head and a Bible in his right hand, a statue of Johnny Cash was unveiled in the U.S.. Capitol Tuesday,
Cash’s statute was one of two Arkansas, like every other state, has at the Capitol. In 2019, Arkansas decided to replace Uriah Rose and Sen. James Clarke due to their segregationist and Confederate links. A statue of civil rights leader Daisy Bates was unveiled earlier this year, according to the New York Post.
“Some may ask: Why should a musician have a statue here in the halls of the great American republic?” House Speaker Mike Johnson said during Tuesday’s unveiling.
“Johnny Cash and Billy Graham are two of only three statues here in the Capitol that are holding a Bible.”
— @SpeakerJohnson pic.twitter.com/dACRyul8tv
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) September 24, 2024
“The answer is pretty simple. It’s because America is about more than laws and politics,” he said.
Singer Roseanne Cash said her father was “a living redemption story. He encountered darkness and met it with love.”
Earlier today, I had the honor of attending the historic unveiling of the Johnny Cash statue, the newest representation of the Natural State in the U.S. Capitol. As visitors from around the world pass by his statue, my hope is that they will be reminded of the ideals so many… pic.twitter.com/HXRvH2tCHZ
— Rep. Bruce Westerman (@RepWesterman) September 25, 2024
“Dad was a man of wonderful contradictions,” she said, according to NPR.
“He opposed the war in Vietnam, and he went to perform for the troops. He performed for Nixon at the White House and respectfully declined to sing one of the songs the president requested, which criticized welfare recipients, because dad thought it denigrated the poor.”
Statue of Johnny Cash dedicated at the Capitol. Is a new statue from Arkansas in the Capitol collection. First statue of a professional musician dedicated at the Capitol. His sister, Joanne Cash, who is blind, spent several minutes touching the statue her legendary brother pic.twitter.com/Q0Tv45YmRs
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) September 24, 2024
In a 2022 interview about his father, John Carter-Cash said Christianity was the bedrock of the man behind the music, according to the Christian Post.
“His faith was what was important to him, and it’s the truth,” he said.
He said his father never let hitting the depths rule his life.
“Throughout my early years, my parents were very close. And everything was wonderful,” he said. “Their marriage almost fell apart in the late 1970s, early 1980s — his addiction was just as bad as it ever had been. But I watched him change his life again, I watched him go through recovery. My mother also forgave my father, and they turned their relationship back around. They were incredibly close until the end of their lives.
“It was the love that endured,” he added. “It wasn’t happily ever after all the time, but they were together, through it all, to the end.”
Carter-Cash said his father was not worried when standing up for his faith ruffled feathers, as it did when ABC canceled his weekly TV show in 1971 after the singer began releasing gospel albums and touring with evangelist Billy Graham.
“He didn’t care if he got canceled; he stood up for what he believed. It was his nature,” Carter-Cash said. “And, I mean, what did he have to lose? He’d already hit rock bottom. He knew he had a lot to give back.”
He said his father’s courage inspires him.
“At the end of his life when he was when he was in such pain and physical pain and infirmity, he carried on and he persisted, and then he kept up his creativity,” he said.
“That itself gives me sort of a creed for the way that I hope to live. He taught me to forgive and never hold a grudge,” he said.
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