Johnny Cash continues to make history.
A statue of the late country singer-songwriter was unveiled Tuesday inside the U.S. Capitol, marking the first time a musician has received such an honor.
Arkansas chose Cash to represent the state in the Capitol after deciding in 2019 to replace its previous statues of Uriah Rose and Sen. James Clarke, which were removed for being a Confederate sympathizer and a segregationist, respectively.
A statue of civil rights activist Daisy Bates was installed earlier this year.
Hundreds of guests, including congressional leaders from both parties and members of the Cash family, gathered for the historic event.
“Some might ask: Why should a musician have a statue here in the halls of the great American republic?” House Speaker Mike Johnson said at the ceremony.
“The answer is quite simple. It’s because America is not just about laws and politics.”
The statue, created by Little Rock sculptor Kevin Kresse, depicts the “Ring of Fire” singer with a guitar slung over his shoulder and a Bible in his hand.
Cash’s daughter, Rosanne, said her father would have considered the statue “the ultimate honor” of his life.
The country music icon, who rediscovered his Christian faith later in life and devoted himself to the Evangelical Temple Church, endured a particularly difficult upbringing in a government-run agricultural resettlement community that helped shape his strong work ethic, his daughter said.
“This man was a living redemption story,” Rosanne said. “He faced the darkness and faced it with love.”
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders celebrated the statue, recalling her childhood when Cash was second only to his family’s faith and service to his country.
“While so much in today’s world is fake, Johnny Cash was real,” Sanders said.
Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries credited Cash with inspiring generations of artists and the growth of the country as a whole.
Jeffries cited Bob Dylan, who teamed up with Cash on the song “Girl from the North Country,” and Snoop Dogg when talking about his impact.
“He called Johnny Cash a real American gangster. That’s a compliment coming from Snoop Doggy Dogg,” Jeffries said to laughter from the audience.
“What a life, what a legend, what a legacy.”
Cash died in 2003 at the age of 71 from complications related to diabetes.
He won 13 Grammy Awards during his career, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999. He served in the Air Force during the Korean War on his own in 1950. He released his first album, “Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar,” in 1957, just three years after completing his service.
With pole wires
