Johnny Cash claimed to have traveled every road in this here land, but Arkansas was always his first home. He’ll represent the state in the form of a new statue unveiled today at the US Capitol, making him the first musician memorialized at the National Statuary Hall collection.

The National Statuary Hall in DC houses two statues per state of a notable person from that state. For over 100 years, Arkansas’ statues were of the 19th-century attorney Uriah Rose and former governor and senator James P. Clarke. Not very exciting! In 2019, state lawmakers voted to replace those old statues with those of Cash and the civil rights leader Daisy Bates, who played a major role in desegregating Little Rock Central High School in 1957.

Created by Little Rock sculptor Kevin Kresse, Cash’s statue depicts him with a guitar and Bible. Watch footage of its unveiling below.

Johnny Cash Statue Unveiling in the U.S. Capitol. pic.twitter.com/ErfipvXmdC

— CSPAN (@cspan) September 24, 2024