The Incongruous City

Mrs L sees and hears it on the streets of Manhattan

 

Biography

About Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Rosanne Cash

Rosanne Cash is one of America’s pre-eminent singers and songwriters. Over the past thirty years she has recorded twelve albums, and has had 11 #1 singles.  In that time she has navigated her own path between country and rock, roots and pop, writing songs that are finely-wrought vignettes, both highly personal and universally appealing.

Cash is the keeper of an extraordinary family legacy. She was born in Memphis, Tennessee on May 24, 1955, the eldest child of Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Liberto. After her parents separated she was raised by her mother in Los Angeles. Her father went on to marry singer June Carter, who also had an influence on young Rosanne’s musical path.

After high school, Cash joined her father and stepmother’s road show, working her way up from laundry duty to backup singer to soloist. before starting a full-time career in music, she studied drama at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University and at the Lee Strasberg Institute in Los Angeles.

Rosanne Cash’s recordings included Right or Wrong, Seven Year Ache, Rhythm and Romance, King’s Record Shop, Interiors, The Wheel, 10 Song Demo, Rules of Travel, and Black Cadillac.

Her most recent album, The List was released in the fall of 2009. The songs on it were selected from a list of 100 great American songs that her father gave her when she was 18 years old. The album features a duet with Bruce Springsteen and vocal contributions by Elvis Costello,  Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) and Rufus Wainwright, and has been nominated for a Grammy award.

Cash has also made her mark as a writer. She published a collection of short stories called "Bodies of Water" in 1995 and a children’s book: "Penelope Jane: A Fairy’s Tale" in 2000. Her essays and fiction have appeared in various collections and publications, including The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Time Magazine, The Oxford American, and New York Magazine.

Over the course of her career, whether in music or on the printed page, Cash has articulated the most heartbreaking emotional realities: betrayal, loss, misunderstanding, and isolation. But, in the family tradition, she always emerges with a firm belief in the limitless possibilities of personal redemption.

Rosanne lives in New York City with her husband, producer and guitarist John Leventhal. She is the mother of 5 children. On August 10th, Viking will publish Rosanne’s much anticipated memoir, COMPOSED.

 

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