June Carter Cash

Valerie June Carter Cash (June 23, 1929 – May 15, 2003) was an American country singer, songwriter, comedian, actress, and author. A five-time Grammy Award winner, she was a member of the Carter Family and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash. Before her marriage, she performed as June Carter, a name she continued to use professionally, including on songwriting credits. She played guitar, banjo, harmonica, and autoharp, and acted in several films and television shows. In 2009, she was posthumously inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame, and in 2025, she was named a posthumous inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Valerie June Carter was born on June 23, 1929, in Maces Spring, Virginia, to Maybelle (née Addington) and Ezra Carter. Her mother performed country music with her sister-in-law Sara and brother A. P. Carter. Carter began performing with the Carter Family at age 10, in 1939.

In March 1943, when the Carter Family trio stopped recording at the end of the WBT contract, Maybelle, encouraged by her husband Ezra, formed "The Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle." Helen played accordion, Anita played bass fiddle, and Carter played autoharp and served as front person and comedian. The group first aired on WRNL in Richmond, Virginia, on June 1. Doc Addington and Carl McConnell, Maybelle's brother and cousin, known as "The Virginia Boys", joined them in late 1945.

At 16, Carter was a co-announcer with Ken Allyn and read commercials for Red Star Flour, Martha White, and Thalhimers Department Store. In 1946, the Carters and Doc and Carl performed show dates within driving distance of Richmond, across Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. Carter attended John Marshall High School during this period. She later said she had to work harder at her music than her sisters, but she had her own special talent: comedy. A highlight of the road shows was her "Aunt Polly" routine. With her thin, lanky frame, she often played a comedic foil alongside Opry stars Faron Young and Webb Pierce. Carl McConnell wrote that Carter was "a natural-born clown, if there ever was one". She revived Aunt Polly for the 1976 TV Johnny Cash & Friends.

After Doc and Carl left the music business in late 1946, Maybelle and her daughters moved to Sunshine Sue Workman's "Old Dominion Barn Dance" on WRVA in Richmond. They later moved to WNOX in Knoxville, Tennessee, where they met Chet Atkins while working with Homer and Jethro.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.