Famed country singer Johnny Cash may have had five children,
but not all of them benefited equally from his will.
Johnny Cash was born in Arkansas in 1932. He was raised on a cotton farm,
where he spent his childhood years working the land with his family.
Cash had an affinity for music even as a child, and he penned his first song at age 12.
When he got older, he spent a few years in the Air Force, where he and his friends created
their first band. Then, he met his first wife, Vivian, and they married in 1954.
Their first daughter, Rosanne, was born in 1955,
followed by Kathleen, Cindy, and Tara in the years that followed. According to Biography,
Vivian reportedly became concerned about her husband's heavy drinking and drug usage,
as well as the fact that he was away on tour so often, and she filed for divorce in 1966.
At his lowest point, his old touring companion June Carter helped Johnny seek treatment for drug
addiction. The pair would later marry in 1968, and they welcomed their son, John Carter Cash,
in March -1970. Between them, the pair had a large family. While Johnny had four daughters
with his ex-wife Vivian, June also had two kids, Rosie and Carlene, from her previous marriage.
"And he showed absolutely no less love and consideration to my sisters Rosie and Carlene."
Johnny Cash continued to release new music throughout the 1970s, and by 1980,
he had earned his spot in the Country Music Hall of Fame. But he also began to have health issues,
undergoing double bypass heart surgery in 1988, and being diagnosed with autonomic neuropathy
in 1997, per Boston.com. Understandably, Cash was completely heartbroken when June died in May 2003,
and he passed away in September of the same year due to complications from diabetes.
After such a long and prolific career, Cash left behind plenty of money. After decades of creating
hit country tunes, he had reportedly amassed somewhere between $60 million and $100 million,
and over time, the money continued to grow, reaching as much as $300 million.
According to The Nashville Ledger, Cash finalized his estate details just before his death.
And as his will would stipulate, Cash's son would inherit more money than his daughters.
The family spat focuses on one song in particular, and that's "Ring of Fire."
June Carter Cash, Johnny Cash, and Merle Kilgore wrote the song together,
and it was released in 1963, five years before June and Johnny got married.
Decades after the couple first wrote "Ring of Fire," the song caused a heated debate among the
Cash children. Since June and Johnny only had one biological child together, John Carter Cash, that
meant that all their other children were snubbed from obtaining royalties from the hit tune.
Johnny's four daughters from his first marriage didn't get any royalties from "Ring of Fire," but
they did receive $1 million each when their father died, per Contact Music. While it's no small sum,
they missed out on the steady stream of royalties generated by the beloved hit country song.
According to the Daily Express, Cash's four daughters eventually sued their
half-brother over royalties from the song. However, they lost their case in 2007.
As a result, John Carter Cash remains the publishing rights owner for at least
some of his dad's extensive musical legacy for the foreseeable future.
Per Country Music Today, we probably won't get any more details about Johnny Cash's
estate any time soon since the rest of his will is confidential. Subsequently,
most of the details will be permanently sealed off from the public.
There are conflicting stories about the origins of "Ring of Fire." According to the Irish Examiner,
Johnny Cash told his first wife Vivian that he gave June "half credit" on the tune,
but only because he felt bad that the singer was low on funds.
Conversely, the New York Daily News reported that Cash and Kilgore wrote the song while on a fishing
trip. However, since Cash was going through a divorce at the time, he reportedly added June as
a writer so that the song wasn't entirely tied to him. Regardless of the actual origins of the song,
Johnny Cash, Merle Kilgore, and June Carter Cash are officially credited as writers of the song.