One of the most influential figures in American music and pop culture, Johnny Cash is an icon to people of all ages. In Cash’s first-ever authorized biography, author Steve Turner sifts the man from the legend and presents a picture of the often contradictory figure with unflinching honesty. Given unprecedented access to friends, family, and colleagues, and with fastidious personal research, Turner has been able to get close to the heart of the performer known throughout the world as the Man in Black.

Born to a devout mother and an often rigid father, Cash grew up in rural poverty and was exposed to suffering and death at an early age. After military service in Europe, he adopted a music career in the mid-1950s that took him to the heights of popularity, fame, and wealth but also to the depths of insecurity, addiction, and despair. Out of these tensions he created a haunting music that has influenced every subsequent generation. At a time when pop music celebrated the frivolities of youth, Johnny Cash explored the dark side of himself and reported his findings in a voice that sounded as old as the Grand Canyon and sometimes as deep.

The Man Called Cash follows the star on his stumbling journey from the cotton fields of Arkansas to the drawing rooms of presidents. It details his self-destructiveness and brushes with the law, as well as his humanitarian generosity and eventual acceptance as an American icon, all the while keeping in view the deep, enduring faith that informed his life and work. We see Johnny Cash not only as a performer and recording artist but as a neighbor, church member, fisherman, father, brother, husband, and friend.

Whether you are one of Johnny Cash’s millions of fans, a fellow spiritual pilgrim, or a lover of biography, the story of struggle, faith, love, and redemption in The Man Called Cash cannot fail to inspire you.

Steve Turner is the author of A Hard Day’s Write: The Story behind Every Beatles’ Song, and biographies of Jack Kerouac, Marvin Gaye, and Van Morrison. He has written on music and aspects of popular culture for many publications, including the Times (London), Mojo, and Rolling Stone. He lives in London.