It was the ’50s and ’60s and Johnny Cash, who passed away in 2003, was serenading America with hits like “I Walk The Line” and “Ring Of Fire.” But his first child, daughter Rosanne Cash, now 64, witnessed how that fame affected the legendary country and blues singer’s family. “My childhood was chaotic, number one. I understood from a really young age that [my dad] was an artist and that his mind worked differently. And … that scared my mother [Vivian Liberto],” Rosanne told PEOPLE in an interview published on Sept. 11, ahead of her appearance in Ken Burns’ 16-hour docu-series, Country Music, which airs on Sept. 15. Indeed, Johnny ended up having an affair while on the road with country singer June Carter — Vivian had already been suspicious, and so she filed for divorce in 1966. Learn more about how this affected Rosanne, and how she went on to still become a respected singer and songwriter in her own right.
1. Rosanne was scared to sing after seeing what her family went through. The singer-songwriter said that her father’s infidelity “seemed inevitable, though it was so painful for [her] mom” in her interview with PEOPLE. She later added, “I didn’t think I could sing. And I grew up thinking becoming famous was about the worst thing you could do. You went on the road, you started doing drugs and got divorced and didn’t see your kids and everything fell apart.”
But Rosanne still called Johnny the “sweetest dad,” and in the upcoming docu-series, Rosanne revealed that she and Johnny mended their relationship at a show one night. Johnny invited her to stand on the stage with him to sing “I Still Miss Someone,” and Rosanne recalled, “He worked out all his problems onstage, and that happened with me that night with him. It just all got fixed.”
2. She has scooped four Grammy Awards. Rosanne followed in her father’s footsteps of receiving multiple Grammy Awards and nods. She boasts 15 nominations from the prestigious music award show, and won four of those: “Best Americana Album,” “Best American Roots Song,” “Best American Roots Performance” and “Best Female Country Vocal Performance.” She has released a total of 14 studio albums. Recording albums in the double digits seems to run in the family, since Johnny put out 93 albums in his lifetime!
3. Rosanne is a New York Times’ bestselling author. Her memoir, Composed, made The New York Times’ bestselling list in 2010. She authored three other works: Bodies of Water, Songs Without Rhyme: Prose By Celebrated Songwriters and Bird on a Blade.
4. Like Johnny, Roseanne is in the Nashville Songwriters’ Hall of Fame. She was inducted in 2015, nearly four decades after her father participated in the same ceremony!
5. Rosanne is married to Grammy-winning musician John Leventhal, and they share a big family. She married John, 66, in 1995, following her divorce from musician Rodney Crowell. Ironically, Rosanne’s current husband has produced an album for her ex! Rosanne shares her son Jake, 20, with John, and welcomed four other children in her previous marriage with Rodney: Hannah, 43, Caitlin, 39, Chelsea, 37, and Carrie, 30.