Johnny Cash Would Have Celebrated His 80th Birthday Today; Check Out This Rare Picture Gallery!

Today, February 26, 2012, would have been Johnny Cash's 80th birthday! In celebration of Cash's 80th birthday, a year-long celebration of the Man in Black's birthday begins this Sunday with ground-breaking on the restoration of his Dyess, Arkansas boyhood home - The Johnny Cash Boyhood Home Project.

From picking cotton to help his impoverished, Depression-wracked family; to his exhausting tour schedule; to struggling with a serious drug addiction; to his songs about guns, murder, revenge, punishment and repentance—Johnny Cash was a troubled man who sought redemption through his music.

To commemorate what would be the county-music master’s 80th birthday on Feb. 26, several celebrations, projects and events are scheduled throughout the year. Cash’s boyhood home in Dyess, Ark. is being restored. Columbia/Legacy will release a series of archived recordings, starting with a collection of his gospel and spiritual songs from 1970s and ’80s called Bootleg IV: The Soul of Truth, which will be available in April. A Johnny Cash Museum is scheduled to open this summer in Nashville.

Check out some more "rare and unpublished photos of the Country music icon" that Time Magazine just posted on "LightBox". Enjoy. And Happy Birthday, Johnny!

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