It's possible that, if you consider his longevity, conisistent level of quality, and influence on other musicians, Johnny Cash was the greatest recording artist in American history.

His career spanned nearly half a century. Cash first started recordinging at legendary Sun Records in the 1950s. He was present alongside Elvis at the birth of rock and roll. He was still recording up to his death at 71, earning a grammy for best country album a few years ago, and an MTV video award just last month. Everyone from Bob Dylan to U2 to Justin Timberlake considered him a role model and an essay at MTV refers to him as the "Original Gangsta" for his outlaw personna, best epitomized with probably the greatest single line in all of country music: "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die" from "Folsom Prison Blues."

However, calling Cash a "gangsta" ignores the fact that, with his marriage to June Carter in 1966, he became a devoted family man. A successful singer-songwriter in her own right, Carter nursed him back to health several times over the marriage. Totally devoted to each other, she wrote--and he sang--"Ring of Fire," a song written about the depth and inevitability of their love:

Love is a burning thing

and it makes a firery ring

bound by wild desire

I fell in to a ring of fire...

June Carter died in May. Johnny Cash was never well after that.

According to the press, Cash died from "diabetes that resulted in respiratory failure."

I say he died of a broken heart.

Rest in Peace, John. And give June a hug for us all.

At my door the leaves are falling

A cold wild wind has come

Sweethearts walk by together

And I still miss someone