NASHVILLE, May 16 (UPI) -- June Carter Cash, the daughter of one of the great country music families and who became the matriarch of another in a career that covered more than 60 years, has died.
Cash, 73, died Thursday from complications following heart surgery, with her husband, Johnny Cash, at her side. Cash had undergone heart surgery on May 7 and her health began to fail further last week. On Sunday Johnny Cash had asked the family's fans to pray for his wife's health -- just as she had done for him during one of his recent hospitalizations.
June Carter Cash was a daughter of country legend Mother Maybelle Carter and became part of the performing Carter Family in 1939. The Tennessean newspaper reported that in the 1960s she and Merle Kilgore wrote "Ring of Fire" to describe her budding relations with Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash's 1963 version of the song is a country music classic.
Valerie June Carter was born June 23, 1929, and grew up on the family farm in Maces Springs in Scott County in southwestern Virginia. She was the second of three daughters. June was taught to play autoharp and guitar as a child. In 1939, she and sisters Anita and Helen Carter were appearing on Border Radio as members of the Carter Family.
When the original Carter Family retired in 1943, she sang and played rhythm guitar in Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters group on various radio stations, and for many years they were regulars on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
She later toured with Elvis Presley, but in the early 60s she began to work with Johnny Cash's show, soon being joined by her mother and sisters.
In 1964, her recording with Johnny Cash of "It Ain't Me Babe" made both country and pop charts and in 1967 they had a No. 2 country hit with "Jackson." That song and a version of "If I Were a Carpenter" earned Grammy awards for the duo. June Carter Cash also won a Grammy for best traditional folk album in 1999 for "Press On."
June Carter Cash is survived by her husband, Johnny Cash, their son John Carter Cash; two daughters from previous marriages -- Carlene Carter, who was a country music star in her own right, and Rosey Nix. Funeral services were expected to be private.
