Johnny Cash is set to be honored with a statue being unveiled at the US Capitol next month, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced on Thursday (August 1st).
Sculpted by Kevin Kresse, the reportedly eight-foot bronze figure will make the Man in Black the first professional musician to receive a statue at the Capitol, according to Rolling Stone. It will be unveiled on September 24th in Emancipation Hall, where it will become part of the National Statuary Hall Collection.
Cash’s statue will be the second sculpture of an Arkansas native to be unveiled at the Capitol this year. A figure honoring civil rights leader Daisy Bates was installed in May.
In 2019, the Arkansas state legislature passed a bill to replace the existing statues of the state’s 18th governor James P. Clarke and 19th-century lawyer Uriah Rose with the likenesses of Cash and Bates, respectively.
Both statues drew backlash in recent years, particularly for Clarke’s 1894 proclamation calling for the Democratic Party to preserve “white standards.” Meanwhile, Rose stayed loyal to the Confederacy during the Civil War.
Cash’s legacy continues to expand even two decades after his death. A new posthumous album titled Songwriter (grab your copy here) was released in late June.
