All About Johnny Cash 7 Children, Rosanne, Carlene, Kathy, Rosie, Cindy, Tara, John

Table of Contents

Johnny Cash’s legacy was carried forward by his children. All of them—Rosanne, Kathy, Cindy, Tara, John Carter, Carlene, and Rosie – became accomplished musicians, actors, and writers.

Need to Know

Johnny Cash fathered five biological children and two stepchildren.
Rosanne, Kathy, Cindy, and Tara were Johnny Cash’s children with his first wife Vivian Liberto.
His son, John Carter Cash, was born in 1970 by June Carter Cash.
He became a stepfather to June Carter’s daughters Carlene Carter and Rosie Nix Adams.

Johnny Cash had four daughters with his first wife, Vivian Liberto. They met in 1951 – when Vivian was 17 and Johnny was 19 -while Johnny was undergoing Air Force basic training in San Antonio, Texas. After completing his military service and a posting in Germany, Johnny married Vivian in 1954 and moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where his career began.

Their children are Rosanne Cash (born 1955), Kathy Cash (born 1956), Cindy Cash (born 1959), and Tara Cash (born 1961). Seeking to escape the public eye, the family decided to move to Southern California in 1958. At the time, Johnny was struggling with the pressures of fame and had developed an addiction to methamphetamine.

He had written the song “I Walk the Line” (1956) during a tour as a pledge of fidelity to Vivian; however, Vivian’s fears ultimately proved well-founded. Vivian filed for divorce in 1966 due to Cash’s drug addiction and the controversy surrounding his relationship with country singer June Carter. After marrying June in 1968, Cash overcame his addiction. June had two children from previous relationships: Carlene Carter and Rosie Carter Nix.

John Carter Cash, born in 1970, was the only child of June and Johnny. They made their home in Hendersonville, Tennessee, just outside Nashville. Both June and Cash passed away in 2003. In a 2019 interview, Cash’s eldest daughter, Rosanne Cash, described her upbringing as “confusing” but also called her father the “best dad.”

Rosanne Cash

Rosanne Cash is the eldest daughter of Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Liberto. She was born on May 24, 1955, in Memphis. Like her father, Rosanne Cash became a singer-songwriter. She achieved great success, releasing 14 studio albums and winning four Grammy Awards.

In 1979, she married musician Rodney Crowell. During this time, she became a stepmother to Rodney’s daughter, Hannah, and gave birth to three daughters of her own—Caitlin, Chelsea, and Carrie. She also had a son, Jacob, with her second husband, John Leventhal.

Carlene Carter

Carlene Carter was born on September 26, 1955, her full name was Rebecca Carlene Carter, and she was the daughter of June and her first husband, Carl Smith. She was just 17 when she began performing with the Carter Family musical group, carrying on her musical family’s legacy. She released her debut album in 1978 and has continued to release albums ever since.

In 1991, she received her first Grammy nomination for the album I Fell in Love and also won the Academy of Country Music Award for Top New Female Vocalist that same year. In a 1991 interview, Carlene Carter remarked, “There is always pressure when you are the child of a famous person.” She added, “There was a time when I feared I had missed my chance, but I believe that everything I’ve done—and every mistake I’ve made—has brought me to this point.

I have matured as a songwriter and as a person. I’ve learned so much.” Following the deaths of her mother and stepfather, the country singer participated in a tribute concert in Nashville honoring them. She stated at the time, “This is truly a tribute; it’s a way for us to celebrate the music they gave us.” In January 2024, Carlene and her brother John produced a documentary about their mother, June.

“June was a star in the worlds of music and television from a very young age—decades before she became Johnny Cash’s wife,” she explained. While some may not fully grasp the extent of June’s talent and significance within the entertainment industry, this excellent documentary offers a clear insight into her true character and the joy she brought to the world.

Kathy Cash

Kathy Cash was born in Memphis on April 16, 1956. An actress and singer, she appeared in the 2016 film What’s the Matter with Gerald, directed by her son Dustin Tittle and her son-in-law Matt Riddlehoover. Much like her sister Rosanne, who did not enjoy the film Walk the Line, Kathy skipped the premiere of that movie five times, according to the Associated Press.

In 2005, Kathy told the media outlet, “My mother had almost no role in that whole movie, except as that crazy little psychopath who hated her career.” She added, “That isn’t true. She loved her career and took pride in it—until she started doing drugs and stopped coming home.” Kathy is married to Jimmy Tittle, whom she met through her sister Rosanne in the 1970s; they have two children, Dustin and Kacy. Kathy also has another son, Thomas Gabriel, from a different relationship.

Rosie Carter Nix

Johnny became a stepfather to Rosie and treated her as his own daughter. Rosie was born on July 13, 1958, in Madison, Tennessee. Her biological mother was June Carter, and her father was Edwin “Rip” Nix. Like her sisters, Rosie Nix Adams also chose the path of a singer-songwriter.

In 2003, shortly after the passing of June Carter Cash, Rosie Nix Adams also passed away at a young age. Through her excellent albums, she helped carry forward the musical legacy of her father, Johnny.

Cindy Cash

Cindy Cash was born on July 29, 1959, in Ventura, California. She is a country musician who performed alongside her father on “The Johnny Cash Show” and was formerly a member of “The Next Generation,” a band formed by the children of Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, George Jones, and Tammy Wynette. She also acted in films such as “The Cradle Will Fall,” released in 1983.

“My mother kept us out of the spotlight while I was growing up,” Cindy Cash told the Sioux City Journal in 2010. “My first memory of his popularity was when we were in a limousine after one of his shows; fans were trying to get into the car, and I was screaming and crying. I didn’t understand why people wanted to love and hug him. I remember sitting in the back of the car in my father’s arms; that was when I realized I had to share him with the whole world.”

In a 2005 interview with the media, Cindy spoke about having a father who didn’t live with her but whose name was known all over town. “It means a lot to me because now my friends will understand that I have a father too,” Cindy said. She told the newspaper that she hadn’t watched the movie Walk the Line because it ended in 1968 and didn’t cover the events that followed, so she didn’t relate to it; the film focused on the relationship between her father and June, and on her mother’s pain.

In 2011, Cindy auctioned off her father’s belongings at the Johnny Cash Music Festival. Speaking to Desert Sun, Cindy said, “I want people to see another side of my father—a side they hadn’t seen before. He was a father, a grandfather, and a family man. Family was very important to him, and he was a very compassionate man.”

Cindy has one child, a daughter named Jessica Doreen Brock, from her first marriage. She was married to musician Marty Stuart from 1983 to 1988. In 2003, Cindy married Eddie Panetta, but he passed away in a motorcycle accident in 2009.

Tara Cash Schwoebel

Tara Cash Schwoebel is one of Johnny Cash’s daughters and the fourth child he bore with his first wife, Vivian Liberto. She was born on August 24, 1961, in Encino, California. Her siblings include Rosanne, Kathy, and Cindy Cash. Contrary to most people in the Cash family, Tara did not become a singer.

However, she pursued a more low-key career than singing. She was a jewelry designer who sold her jewelry from the Johnny Cash online store. Moreover, she worked in film costume and wardrobe departments. She made an appearance in the television movie, The Pride of Jesse Hallam that was released in 1981.

In 1995, Tara surprised her dad with a book full of questions about himself. Johnny Cash answered the questions, and the daughter subsequently published the book. Tara Cash married Fred Schwoebel and has two sons, Aran Thomas Schwoebel and Alexander Roland Schwoebel.

John Carter Cash

John Carter Cash is the only child and only son of Johnny Cash, being his child with second wife June Carter Cash. John was born on March 3, 1970, in Nashville, Tennessee. He was raised amid country music and followed in his parents’ footsteps into this business. John Carter Cash is known for his work as a singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, author, and film producer.

His first production project was an album of June Carter Cash named Press On that received the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album in 2000. Then John Carter Cash worked as associate producer for Rick Rubin and Johnny Cash on their albums American III: Solitary Man and American IV: The Man Comes Around.

Among other projects John Carter Cash produced the albums of such musicians as Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello, and Emmylou Harris. He is also owner of Cash Cabin Studio in Tennessee. As an author John Carter Cash wrote children’s books, a novel, a family cookbook, the biography of his mother, and memoirs about his father. John has six half-sisters: Rosanne, Kathy, Cindy, Tara, Carlene, and Rosie.