Johnny Cash Celebrated By Family, Friends In Arkansas

Thursday night, the Johnny Cash Festival paid tribute to the legendary singer with a nearly four-hour long show of performances by Cash’s siblings Tommy and Joanne, daughter Roseanne, son John Carter Cash and wife Laura, former son-in-law Rodney Crowell, and granddaughter Chelsea Crowell at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

Joining them to entertain a sellout audience of 7,000 were close friends of the Man In Black and music legends in their own right, Kris Kristofferson and George Jones. The concert came about through a collaboration between the Cash family and Arkansas State University to fund the preservation of the childhood home of Johnny Cash in the small town of Dyess, located about 30 miles east of Jonesboro.

John Carter Cash got the crowd roaring with “Folsom Prison Blues,” and the concert built up to an emotional peak with the appearance of Rodney Crowell, who was later joined by ex-wife Roseanne Cash for a moving rendition of “No Memories Hangin’ Round,” followed by “I Got Rhythm” with added vocals by their daughter, Chelsea.

Funds raised by the concert – estimated at $300,000 – will go to restore the Cash home, create a Johnny Cash Childhood Museum in Dyess, and help rebuild the small town.