Johnny Cash’s Long Struggle with Drugs and Sobriety

Updated March 30, 2019

“I was taking the pills for awhile, and then the pills started taking me.” – Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash is one of the most recognized names in music. He was a country singer in the middle of the 20th century, but his name is recognized across musical genres. Cash sang such songs as Ring of Fire, Walk the Line, Cry Cry Cry, Folsom Prison Blues, and Sunday Mornin’ Coming Down.

The “Highs” and “Lows” of Being an Addict and a Musician

Like many of the most talented names in the music industry, Johnny Cash also struggled with severe addiction problems. Johnny Cash was not only an alcoholic but abused amphetamines and was addicted to barbiturates as well. It was common for singers in those days to use speed as a form of performance enhancement— to help them cope with long days, demanding travel schedules and frequent invitations to perform at music venues and promotional events at a moment’s notice.

When I Walk the Line hit number one on the country charts in 1956, Johnny Cash was on the cusp of a music career that would go on to cycle between dramatic highs and lows, nearly crashing and burning more than once because of drug addiction.

 

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If you know much about Johnny Cash, then you’ve probably heard the story about Cash trying to smuggle over six hundred amphetamine tablets and almost five hundred tranquilizers across the Mexican border. Cash ended up in quite a bit of legal trouble over his addiction. At one point, he tried unsuccessfully to bribe a cop to get him out of trouble for being caught with a big bag of pills. Cash instead spent the night in jail and had to listen to a lecture on wasted talent and how he was ruining his own life and the lives of those around him.