On Friday, Johnny Cash, 71, died of complications from diabetes.

Cash’s career spanned six decades and earned him a total of 11 Grammys and a coveted spot in both the country and rock ‘n’ roll halls of fame.

Cash was more than a legendary recording artist. He romanticized the rebellious spirit of the American West and gave voice to the pride that came from the working class. Cash, aka “The Man in Black,” dressed in all black to represent his alignment with the nation’s downtrodden.

“Johnny Cash was the spirit of working America,” said Will Veeson, a cook at The House, 263 E. Lincoln Highway.

-Cash was, for many Americans, the voice of their struggles. Cash sang about working hard for little pay and the long hours of contemplation behind bars in prison. He was the man’s man who stood tall and backed down to no one.

Cash epitomized the American dream in his rise from a poor cotton farmer to a country music legend. He credits his mother as the driving force that helped him overcome his economically poor upbringing.

“My mother told me to keep on singing, and that kept me working through the cotton fields,” he said. “She said God has His hand on you. You’ll be singing for the world someday.”

Cash’s 1956 hit “Folsom Prison Blues,” recorded live at Folsom Prison, launched him into the public eye as he rose to No. 4 on the country charts and cemented perhaps his most famous line, “I shot a man in Reno/ just to watch him die,” into the nation’s memory.

Despite the constant themes of prison and debauchery in Cash’s music, he never spent time in prison. He did, however, receive a suspended jail sentence for a misdemeanor narcotics charge during his battle with an addiction to amphetamines.

Cash overcame his addiction to finish a career that now stands as one of the most monumental achievements ever in the recording industry, as he recorded more than 1,500 songs on more than 500 albums.

He died only four months after his wife, June Carter Cash, died in May.

“It’s a sad day in Tennessee, but a good day in Heaven,” said Merle Kilgore, Cash’s best man at his wedding. ‘The Man in Black’ is now wearing white as he joins his wife June in the angel band.”

Unfortunately, it may have taken the death of “The Man in Black” to stir up interest in his career. Record Revolution, 817 W. Lincoln Highway, reported a drastic increase in record sales of Johnny Cash’s back catalog directly after his death.

Although his recent video for “Hurt” garnered some attention from MTV, many who are only now discovering the legendary musician’s earlier work never will be able to experience “The Man in Black” in the flesh.