June Carter Cash Net Worth

What is June Carter Cash's Net Worth?

June Carter Cash was an American country singer, songwriter, musician, and actress who had a net worth of $20 million at the time of her death in 2003. She was the second wife of singer Johnny Cash. She performed with her family as the Carter Family at 10 years old and then as part of Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters. As a solo artist, Cash released her debut studio album "Appalachian Pride" in 1975. She released the albums "Press On" and "It's All in the Family" in 1999. Her 2003 album "Wildwood Flower" reached #2 on the US Bluegrass chart. She also released the album "Louisiana Hayride" in 2003 and the posthumous albums "Church in the Wildwood: A Treasury of Appalachian Gospel" and "Early June." She released several albums with Johnny Cash, including their 1967 debut studio album "Carryin' On with Johnny Cash and June Carter," which reached #5 on the US Country chart. Her single "If I Were a Carpenter" with Johnny Cash reached #2 on the US Country chart and #1 on the Canadian country chart. In 1969 she won a Country Music Association Award for Vocal Group of the Year with Johnny Cash. June Carter Cash passed away on May 15, 2003, at 73 years old.

Early Life and Education

June Carter Cash was born Valerie June Carter on June 23, 1929 in Maces Spring, Scott County, Virginia to Maybelle and Ezra. Her mother, a country musician, led the Carter Family folk music group, while her father served as the manager. Carter's sisters were Helen and Anita. While performing with the Carter Family, Carter attended John Marshall High School in Richmond, Virginia.

The Carter Family/Sisters

June Carter started performing with the Carter Family music group at the age of 10 in 1939. In 1943, after the group ceased performing in its original form, matriarch Maybelle formed the Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle, featuring June on autoharp and her sisters Helen and Anita on accordion and bass fiddle, respectively. June also played guitar and banjo, and did comedy routines. The group was joined in late 1945 by Maybelle's brother Doc and cousin Carl. Over the subsequent years, the Carter Sisters toured the Southern and Eastern United States and performed on various radio stations. They released their first singles in 1949, and in the early 1950s became members of the Grand Ole Opry, where they performed to great enthusiasm. In the 1960s, the group reverted to its original name, the Carter Family, and performed on Johnny Cash's road show. The Carter Family continued to release many singles during the decade and into the early 1970s.

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Performing with Johnny Cash

In the 1950s, Carter met Johnny Cash at the Grand Ole Opry. The pair went on to become famous collaborators, and eventually married partners. In the 1960s, Carter co-wrote Cash's number-one hit song "Ring of Fire,' which came out in 1963. The following year, the pair recorded a cover of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe." Carter and Cash had their biggest hit yet with their 1967 cover of "Jackson," which was included on their first album together, "Carryin' On with Johnny Cash and June Carter." The song earned them a Grammy Award. They subsequently released the successful singles "Long-Legged Guitar Pickin' Man," "If I Were a Carpenter," and "No Need to Worry"; they earned another Grammy for "If I Were a Carpenter." Meanwhile, from 1969 to 1971, Carter and Cash regularly performed on Cash's music variety television program "The Johnny Cash Show," as well as on Cash's annual Christmas specials. The duo went on to release one more album together, "Johnny Cash and His Woman," in 1973. The year after that, Carter was a featured vocalist on Cash's album "The Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me." They continued performing together for the rest of their lives.

Solo Music Career

Carter recorded music as a solo artist throughout the 1950s and '60s. After releasing several singles, she released her debut solo album, "Appalachian Pride," in 1975. Carter didn't have another solo album until 1999, with "Press On," which won her the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album. She earned two more Grammy Awards for her third and final solo album, 2003's "Wildwood Flower": Best Traditional Folk Album and Best Female Country Vocal Performance for the single "Keep on the Sunny Side."

Acting Career

Having studied acting under Lee Strasberg and Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City, Carter appeared in episodes of the television series "Gunsmoke" and "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," playing the wife of Johnny Cash's character Kid Cole on the latter. She also acted alongside Cash in the 1980s television films "Murder in Coweta County" and "The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James." On the big screen, Carter played the mother of Robert Duvall's main character in the 1997 film "The Apostle."

Media Portrayals

In 2005, Reese Witherspoon portrayed Carter in the biographical drama film "Walk the Line," with Joaquin Phoenix portraying Johnny Cash. For her performance, Witherspoon won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Later, in 2013, singer-songwriter Jewel portrayed Carter in the Lifetime television movie "Ring of Fire." In 2019, Carter was portrayed by Erin Beute in the television film "Patsy & Loretta," also on Lifetime.

Personal Life and Death

Carter was married a total of three times and had a child with each husband. All of her children went on to become successful country artists. Carter's first husband was country singer Carl Smith, to whom she was married from 1952 until their divorce in 1956. They had a daughter named Carlene. Carter wed her second husband, Edwin Nix, in late 1957; they had a daughter named Rosie and divorced in 1966. Two years later, Carter married Johnny Cash, with whom she would remain for the rest of her life. They had a son named John Carter Cash.

Carter and Cash were significantly involved in philanthropy, and donated frequently to the nonprofit SOS Children's Villages.

In the spring of 2003, Carter was diagnosed with a leaky heart valve. Although she underwent surgery to fix the issue, complications arose that caused her health to quickly decline. Carter passed away in Nashville on May 15, 2003, surrounded by her family. Johnny Cash passed away later in the year, as did Carter's daughter Rosie. All three were interred at Hendersonville Memory Gardens near their home in Tennessee.

Real Estate

In 1968, the same year they married, Johnny and June bought a 4.5-acre lakefront property 20 minutes outside of downtown Nashville. The property featured a newly constructed 14,000-square-foot mansion. Johnny and June remained in the home until their deaths. They both died in 2003.

In December 2005, the John R. Cash Revocable Trust sold the property to musician Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees for $2.3 million. Barry planned to restore the property and use it as a recording studio and retreat.

Tragically, during the renovation in 2007, a fire broke out and destroyed the entire 14,000 square-foot mansion. The property's tennis court, swimming pool, and guardhouse all survived the fire.

The property was abandoned for many years. In 2014, it was acquired by a new owner for $2 million. This owner, at one point, intended to transform the property into a treatment center for people suffering from eating disorders. Those plans ultimately fell through, and in February 2020, the property changed hands once again, this time for $3.2 million to a husband-and-wife couple that is local to the area.

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