Johnny Cash statue unveiled at US Capitol as iconic Arkansas figure
Members of the Cash family surround a statue of country music singer and Arkansas native Johnny Cash after it was unveiled in Emancipation Hall on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on September 24, 2024. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/A
WASHINGTON - A statue of the late singer-songwriter Johnny Cash was unveiled at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, the unlikeliest of venues.
Congressional leaders, Arkansas lawmakers and members of the Cash family gathered for the unveiling of a bronze statue depicting the "Man in Black."
Why did the Capitol want a statue of Johnny Cash?
The Cash statue is the second new figure Arkansas has sent to replace two existing images that had represented the state at the U.S. Capitol for more than 100 years. Another statue depicting civil rights leader Daisy Bates was unveiled at the Capitol earlier this year. Bates mentored the nine Black children who desegregated Little Rock Central High School in 1957.
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The state's legislature in 2019 voted to replace Arkansas' two prior statues, which depicted little-known figures from the 18th and 19th centuries, with Bates and Cash.
The two were approved after Arkansas lawmakers debated competing statue ideas ranging from Walmart founder Sam Walton to a Navy SEAL from the state who was killed in Afghanistan. Each state may donate two statues representing notable figures from their history to the Capitol's National Statuary Hall Collection.
Who was Johnny Cash?
Cash was born in Kingsland, a tiny town about 60 miles south of Little Rock. He died in 2003 at age 71. His achievements include 90 million records sold worldwide spanning country, rock, blues, folk and gospel. He is among the few artists inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The Cash statue depicts the singer with a guitar slung across his back and a Bible in his hand. Little Rock sculptor Kevin Kresse, who was selected to create the statue, has sculpted other musical figures from Arkansas such as Al Green, Glen Campbell and Levon Helm.
Cash's statue will be the newest added to the Capitol since one from North Carolina depicting the Rev. Billy Graham was unveiled in May.