Johnny Cash has become the first musician to receive a statue at the US Capitol. The Kevin Kresse creation was introduced at the National Statuary Hall in Washington, DC with remarks from the Man in Black’s daughter, Rosanne Cash, during an unveiling ceremony on the morning of Tuesday, September 24th.
“Words cannot come close to expressing our pride to see my dad accorded such a singular privilege, the first musician in history to be included in the Statuary Hall Collection,” Rosanne said, joined by over 100 family members and close friends. “I’m very careful not to put words in his mouth since his passing, but on this day, I can safely say that he would feel that of all the many honors and accolades he received in his lifetime, this is the ultimate.”
The placard on the statue describes Johnny Cash as a “singer, songwriter, artist, and humanitarian.” Cash was a passionate advocate for prison reform — in 1972, he visited Washington, DC to make a direct appeal for change to the US Senate.
“He loved the idea of America as a place of dreams and refuge, freedom and wonder…He was a flawed but profoundly humble, kind, and compassionate man with a magnificent generosity of spirit to love those who suffered,” his daughter said in her remarks.
“Johnny Cash is the perfect person to be honored in this way,” added House Speaker Mike Johnson. “He was a man who embodied the American spirit in a way that few could.”
Also in attendance to witness the arrival of the eight-foot bronze sculpture were Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders. With today’s unveiling, Cash’s statue becomes the second sculpture of an Arkansas icon to arrive at the Capitol this year; a figure honoring civil rights leader Daisy Bates, who led significant efforts in the fight for desegregation in Arkansas, was installed in May.
In 2019, the Arkansas state legislature passed a bill to replace the statues of the state’s 18th governor James P. Clarke (who had made remarks about preserving the “white standards” of Arkansas) and Confederacy sympathizer Uriah Rose.
A new posthumous Johnny Cash album titled Songwriter was released this summer — grab your copy here. Meanwhile, Rosanne Cash is set to be featured in a new box set of recordings from Elvis Costello arriving on November 1st.