“Ring of Fire” hit the charts in 1963 and stayed at number one for seven weeks. It became Johnny Cash’s biggest song. But here is a secret: he was not the first person to record it. The song had a whole different life before Cash ever sang it. This classic tune has a story that starts with someone else.
June Carter wrote the song, before she married Johnny, and her friend Merle Kilgore. They were trying to write songs for June’s sister, Anita. June got the idea from an old letter. A friend wrote that love felt “like a burning ring of fire.” They knew right away that this line was special.
1st RECORDING OF: Ring Of Fire (as ‘Love’s Ring Of Fire’) – Anita Carter (1962)
Anita Carter recorded it first as a slow, beautiful folk song. It was lovely, but Johnny Cash heard it and had a different idea. He said he had a dream where he heard the song with Mexican trumpets. He waited to see if Anita’s version would be a hit. When it was not, he recorded his own.
That story of the dream and the trumpets is the one everyone knows and loves. It feels like music history. For decades, that was the end of the story. But many years later, in 2007, a book came out that told a very different version of how the song was made. This new story changed things.
Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire (Official Audio)
Johnny Cash’s first wife, Vivian Liberto, wrote that book. In it, she said Johnny wrote the song himself with Merle Kilgore. She claimed he only gave June Carter credit because he “felt sorry for her” and she needed the money. Vivian also said the song was not about love but about a woman’s private parts.
We may never know the complete truth. Johnny and June tied the knot in 1968 and stayed together for 35 years. They passed away just months apart in 2003. Their love story is famous, but the song remains a bit of a mystery. Follow Johnny Cash on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. His music always gives us something to talk about.