He was 71. He was one of the great legends of country music.

Speaking as a tribute at the time, vocalist Nick Cave, who performed on Cash's last album, American IV, said:

"He had such a wealth of experience in his voice, heaven and hell and no-one could touch him."

He had a rough and tough image earned partly by his all-black dress code, and also through the memorable hits such as 'I Walk The Line' and 'Ring Of Fire'. He would become music's "Man in Black".

In the 1960's Cash's career seemed to go off the rails, as hits such as 'A Boy Named Sue', were accompanied, behind the scenes, with amphetamine and alcohol abuse.

He would later come to realize that it was his second wife, June Carter Cash, that saved him. She died earlier in 2003, aged 73.