Johnny Cash: Remembering the message he wrote to June Carter, considered the greatest love letter of all time

Cash would have been 84 today

Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash arrive in London in 1968 (Getty Images)

Today marks what would have been Johnny Cash’s 84th birthday.

Arguably one of the most iconic musicians of the 20th century, Cash was born in Arkansas, US, on February 26, 1932.

A pioneer of American Country music, he won 11 Grammy awards before his death in September 2003 aged 71. Cash died in a Tennessee hospital from respiratory failure, just four months after the death of his wife of 35 years, June Carter Cash. June died of complications following heart-valve replacement surgery.

Their relationship is often regarded as one of the greatest high-profile love stories and was the focus of 2005 film Walk the Line which saw Reese Witherspoon win an Academy Award for her depiction of June. Last year, Cash’s love letter to June to mark her 65th birthday in 1994 was voted the greatest love letter of all time.

The two married in 1968 in Kentucky after Cash proposed to her during a live performance in Canada.

They performed together many times throughout their relationship. Here is Cash's letter to June in full.

Happy Birthday Princess,

We get old and get used to each other. We think alike.

We read each others minds. We know what the other wants without asking. Sometimes we irritate each other a little bit. Maybe sometimes take each other for granted.

But once in awhile, like today, I meditate on it and realize how lucky I am to share my life with the greatest woman I ever met. You still fascinate and inspire me.

You influence me for the better. You’re the object of my desire, the #1 Earthly reason for my existence. I love you very much.

Happy Birthday Princess.

John

In 1963, before they were married, June co-wrote one of his biggest hits "Ring of Fire" with him. She also sang with him on records including "Jackson" and "It Ain’t Me Babe".