Johnny Cash is often referred to as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. He was an American singer, actor, songwriter and author. Although he is majorly remembered for his contribution in country music, his tunes have also spanned across different genres such as rock and roll. He is specifically recognized for his profound, characteristic deep baritone voice coupled with a humble demeanor. His concerts typically start with his introduction line ‘Hi this is Johnny Cash’ and then usually proceed with ‘Folsom Prison Blues’.

Early Life

Johnny Cash was born on February 26th, 1932 in Kingsland, Arkansas. He belonged to a royal descent from Scotland, however he discovered this only after searching for his ancestry. In his younger days, he believed that he was majorly Irish and partly belongs to Native America. Even after learning about his ancestry, he still remained compassionate towards Native Americans and this was clearly portrayed in his songs from the album called ‘Bitter Tears’.

Johnny Cash was given the name J.R. Cash since his parents could not agree on a single name. At the time when he enlisted for US Air Force, he had to change his name since the military would not accept initials for a name. Hence, he took a name John R. Cash. When he signed the Sun records in 1955, he adopted ‘Johnny’ as his stage name.

Johnny was one of the seven children to parents Ray and Carrie Cash. Tommy Cash, his younger brother, also became one of the successful country artists. He started singing songs while working with his family in cotton farms at the age of 5. His family experienced a lot of personal and economic struggles during the ‘Great Depression’, which was reflected in a majority of his songs. His early memories of music were dominated by radio and gospel music. His mother as well his childhood friend introduced him to writing songs and playing guitar. He used to sing at the local radio station in childhood and years later, he released an album of gospel songs as a tribute called ‘My Mother’s Hymn book’. Cash was highly influenced by the traditional Irish songs.

Later on, Cash was enlisted in the US Air Force and was posted in Landsberg, Germany as a code intercept operator, where he developed his first band called ‘The Landsburg Barbarians’. He then returned to Texas after being respectfully released as a sergeant.

Marriages

During his Air Force training in San Antonio, Johnny met Vivian Liberto at a skating rink when she was only 17. The couple dated for three weeks before Cash left for Germany and stayed in touch thereafter. After being discharged, they got married on 7th August, 1954. They had four daughters out of this marriage. However with increasing drug and alcohol abuse, constant alliance with other women, extreme closeness with June Carter and several other affairs urged Liberto to file for a divorce in the year 1966.
Jonny Cash finally proposed June Carter, a fellow country singer he met 12 years ago, in a live performance. They got married on 1st March 1968 and they had one child out of the marriage. The couple worked together and produced some of the biggest hits of all times ‘Ring of Fire. They won two Grammys for their duets, during their professional relationship of 35 years.

Career

After getting married to Liberto, the couple moved to Tennessee. He visited the Sun records studio with the hope of getting a music contract. However when he met the producer Sam Phillips, he was told that his gospel songs were unmarketable. With a lot of improvements, he finally impressed the producer with songs like ‘Cry, Cry, Cry’ and ‘Hey Porter’, which were released by Sun studios in 1955.

His next record called ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ made it to the top 5 country songs whereas his other record called ‘I Walk the Line’ topped the country charts and was entered the top 20 of the pop charts. After the success of ‘Home of the Blues’ in 1957, he recorded an album with Sun. Although he was recording best-selling songs, he felt constrained with a small label. Thereafter he signed an attractive deal with Columbia Records and recorded one of his biggest hits called ‘Don’t take your guns’. During the 1960’s, he toured with the Carter Family. In the year 1961, he acted in a film called ‘5 Minutes to Live’ which was later released as ‘Door-to-Door Maniac’.

Last Years and Death

Johnny Cash was diagnosed with Shy-Drager Syndrome, a neurodegenerative disease, in the year 1997. Later on, he was diagnosed of autonomic neuropathy, often linked with diabetes. Due to this illness, he was forced to shorten his touring. In 1998, he has to be hospitalized due to severe pneumonia that damaged his lungs to a great extent. His last two American albums called ‘The Solitary Man’ and ‘The Man Comes Around’ released in 2002 contained his response to the diseases in the form of songs.

His 73-years old wife June Carter died on 15th May 2003 and had asked him to continue recording. Cash performed a few shows thereafter. On 5th July 2003, he gave his last public performance as a tribute to his wife. Four months after the death of his wife June Carter, his health worsened due to diabetes and was hospitalized at a hospital in Nashville. He died at 2am on 12th September 2003. Cash was buried in Hendersonville Memory gardens, next to his wife. One of his final works called ‘A Hundred Highways’ produced by Rick Rubin was released after his death on 4th July 2006. The album was an instant hit and got the first position on the charts. On 26th February 2010, Rick Rubin along with the Cash Family released another posthumous record called ‘Aint No Grave’ to mark the 78th birthday of Johnny Cash.

Nelson Mandela is one of the most popular names in the world. He served as the South African president from 1994 to 1999. Before his act as a president, he led the armed wing of ANC (African National Congress) called the Umkhonto We Sizwe. Being arrested in 1962, he spent 27 years in prison (most of them on Robben Island), serving charges of sabotage. After his release on February 11, 1990, Nelson Mandela involved himself into negotiations, finally leading to multi-racial democracy in the year 1994. He is also referred to as ‘Madiba’ in South Africa, which is an honorary title given to him by the other elderly members of his claim. During the span of four decades, he received more than 250 awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

Early Life

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on 18th July, 1918. He was born in a small village called Mvezo, located in the province of Umtata. Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, Mandela’s father was the chief of this town and as soon as he protested against the colonial authorities, the chief was deprived of his rights and the family was forced to migrate to Qunu.

Nelson Mandela’s father had four wives with a total of thirteen children, nine girls and four boys. Nelson was a child of his father’s third wife called Nosekeni Fanny. His middle name ‘Rolihlahla’ meant ‘pulling a branch of a tree’, but in this context it meant ‘troublemaker’. Mandela became the first and the only member of the family to attend school and his teacher ‘Miss Mdingane’ gave him his English name ‘Nelson’. At the age of 9, Mandela lost his father due to tuberculosis. Thereafter, regent Jongintaba took care of him as a guardian.

Nelson attended the Wesleyan Mission School, which was located next to the regent’s palace. According to the Thembu custom, he attended the Clarkebury Boarding School at the age of 16. Instead of the usual three years, Mandela completed his Junior Certificate in two years. At the age of 19, he was highly interested in running and boxing at school. He later enrolled himself at the Fort Hare University for a Bachelor of Arts program. During this course, he met his lifelong friend Oliver Tambo. By the end of first year in college, he was actively involved with the Student’s Representative Council. After consistent boycott against the university policies, he was asked to leave the university and he could return only if he agreed to accept the conditions of the university. During his term at the prison, he took an external program in Bachelor of Laws from the University of London.

On his return from the Fort Hare University, the regent arranged his marriage and in protest to the arrangement, he relocated to Johannesburg. As soon as he reached Johannesburg, he was employed as a guard at the local mine. He then worked at the Witkin, Sidelsky and Edelman law firm in Johannesburg.

Political Career

Nelson Mandela actively involved himself into politics after the Afrikaner-dominated party won the elections in 1948. He fought for the anti-apartheid causes and led the Defiance campaign of ANC in 1952 as well as the Congress of People in 1955. During these years, Nelson Mandela along with his lawyer Oliver Tambo started a law firm that provided free counsel to loads of blacks who lacked lawyer representation. Nelson Mandela was greatly influenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s approach towards truth and non-violence. He also attended the 100th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi at a conference in New Delhi in the year 2007.

Mandela became the leader of the ANC wing in the year 1961. He became the coordinator for the sabotage campaigns against government and military targets. He also made plans for a guerrilla war in case if the sabotage failed. ANC members as well as Mandela were barred an entry from United States until July 2008. They required a special waiver from the Secretary of State in US since they were designated as terrorists due to their apartheid regime.

On June 12, 1964, Mandela was sentenced to imprisonment for life. He was imprisoned at the Robben Island, where he spent 18 years out of his total 27 years in prison. While in prison, he gained a lot of reputation as an important leader in South Africa. The prisoners were separated by race and the blacks received the fewest privileges. He was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in March 1982. President Botha offered freedom to Nelson Mandela in February 1985 on the condition that he and his party members must give up armed struggle.

Marriage and Family

Nelson Mandela has been married three times and he has fathered a total of six children. He has 20 grand-children and an increasing number of great grand kids. All of his children were educated in the United World College. He was first married to Evelyn Ntoko Mase and their marriage lasted for 13 years, before they decided to break up in 1957. His second marriage was to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who happened to the first black worker in Johannesburg. The marriage ended due to separation in 1992. Thereafter, he remarried to Graça Machel née Simbine on his 80th birthday. Mandela still stays at Qunu with his royal nephew.

Nelson Mandela was elected as the oldest president of South Africa and he resumed work at the age of 75 in the year 1994. He refused to stand for the second term and took retirement in 1999. He was then succeeded by Thabo Mbeki.

In about less than a century, Genghis Khan and his followers built the largest kingdom in the world. This empire was later exceeded by the British in the late 19th century. Through brute force, spiritual mission and cunning diplomacy, Genghis Khan united the irreconcilable Mongols and then began his journey to the east and west of Asia, conquering major regions of Asia. By 1280 AD, the Mongol empire stretched from the Yellow Sea in China to the Mediterranean Sea, covering a total of 12 million miles.

Early Life

Genghis Khan was originally called ‘Temüjin’ and was born in 1162. Due to the lack of modern-day records, there is very little information on the early life of Genghis Khan. He was born in a Mongol Tribe near Kherlen and Onon River, besides the Burkhan Khaldun Mountain, located in the contemporary Mongolia. According to the history of Mongols, it is believed that young Temüjin had a blood clot grasped in his hand, which is considered as a traditional sign that he was born to become a leader. The name suggests that he may perhaps have descended from a blacksmith family. His father’s name was ‘Yesükhei’ and his mother’s name was ‘Hoelun’. His father was a chieftain of the ‘Borjigin’ clan and therefore Genghis belonged to a noble background. Since he belonged to a higher social status, it made it easier for him to solicit help from the other Mongol tribes and consolidate them.

There are no accurate portraits of this Mongol leader; however the legendary ancestors suggest that he was tall, red-haired, green-eyed and long-bearded. At the age of nine, Temüjin was taken to another tribe by his father, so as to find him a wife. While returning, Yesugei (Temüjin’s father) was killed by the Tatars. Young Temüjin and his family were abandoned by his father’s followers. They were forced to live in difficult conditions where they survived by fishing and hunting. For the next few years, the family lived in poverty. During one of the hunting excursions, at the age of 13, Temüjin eliminated his half-brother called Bekhter over a fight. After this incident, Temüjin was considered as the head of the family. His mother gave him several important lessons about the existing political conditions in Mongolia and the need for alliance.

Personal Life & Children

As arranged by his deceased father, at the age of 16, Temüjin married a young woman called ‘Borte’ of the ‘Olkut’ hun tribe. This led to an alliance between the two tribes and Borte had four sons out of this marriage. Ghenghis Khan is known to have many more children from his other wives, but none of them were included in his succession. There are no existing records of any daughters. His religion is widely considered to be Tengriism or Shamanism that is usually followed by the nomad tribes of Asia. He was known to be religiously tolerant and took moral or philosophical lessons from other religions as well. During his conquer; he often consulted Muslim merchants, Christian monasteries as well as a Taoist monk called Qui Chuji.

Rise to Power

Temüjin started attracting followers who appreciated him during battles. He became a follower of a Christian tribe chieftain called Toghril in Central Mongolia. Along with Toghril and a young chief called Jamuka, Temüjin was able to rescue his wife. Soon after his wedding, his wife Borte was kidnapped by the Merkits, a prominent tribe in Russia (this tribe is existent until today). Quite a few Mongol princes considered Temüjin as their ruler and then presented him with the title ‘Cheengiz Khan’ (Genghis Khan) which meant ‘the sole ruler of the ocean’. Toghril and Genghis Khan helped North China in their batter against Tatars and emerged successful.

Soon relations between Toghril and Genghis Khan became worse, which led to the open war between them. After being defeated in their first battle, Genghis Khan took abode in some remote areas of northeast Mongolia. 1n, 1203, he fought another battle with Toghril and defeated him. Thereafter, Toghril was killed by the Naimans and his tribe was united with the Mongols. Genghis Khan started his journey in West Mongolia, along with his associates, defeated his enemies including Jamuka, the Naimans and the Merkits in 1204. All the tribes were merged together and Genghis Khan was proclaimed as the supreme ruler.

Invasion of China & Afghanistan

Along with invading and conquering, Genghis Khan did more than that. He established some rules for his empire as well as introduced a written language for his people. He set up a basic postal service, so as to communicate with the different parts of his empire. Above all, he was a great military leader. In the year 1211, the Mongols assaulted China and invaded the north region of the ‘Great Wall’.

Thereafter, he started his hunt for Sultan Muhammad of Khiva. The Sultan possessed major parts of Central Asia, along with Afghanistan and major portions of Persia. It was a matter of time before the two empires clashed against each other. The Sultan fled across Persia and was killed near the Caspian Sea. By 1220, he expanded his empire across the west by defeating the Sultan of Afghanistan. After concluding his campaign in the west, he returned back to Mongolia. Around 1226, Genghis Khan resumed war against the Tibetan tribe called Tanguts. He died on 25th August 1227, in the Liupan Mountains of Kansu, while the war was still in progress.

Death

Genghis Khan wanted to be buried without any markings, following the traditions of his tribe. After his death, his body was returned to his birthplace in Mongolia. Many suspect that he is buried close to the Onon River. The Genghis Khan Mausoleum was created years after his death and is not his burial site. If we were to believe the folklore, it is said that the river was diverted on his grave so that it becomes impossible to locate his burial site. Some stories also suggest that his grave was stamped by several horses and numerous trees were planted over it. According to the Mongol tradition, the youngest son would inherit the father’s property and hence his army was divided accordingly.

Luciano Pavarotti was a famous Italian tenor, who also ventured into popular music, finally becoming one of the most successful operatic tenors of all times. He is regarded as the best male singing voice after Enrico Caruso. Pavarotti is distinguished for combining quality of sound production and accuracy of pitch along with unique musicality.

Early Years

Luciano was born on October 12, 1935 in the north-central city of Italy called Modena. He fondly remembers his childhood, but the family was short of money. His parents owned a small two-room apartment where Pavarotti lived with his sister. His father worked as a baker and his mother was employed in a cigar factory. Between 1939 and 1945, the family had to depart the city in 1943 due to the Second World War. For the next year, they had to accommodate themselves in a single room from a farmer in the adjacent countryside.

As a kid, Luciano’s first musical influences were the recordings of his father, which featured the well-known tenors of those times. At the age of 9, he started singing in a small church choir with his father. He attended a few voice lessons during those times; however he later concluded that they weren’t important. He lived a normal childhood and was largely interested in sports, soccer in particular. After graduating from Schola Magistrale, he faced the predicament of choosing a career for himself.

Initially, Pavarotti was fascinated to become a professional soccer player, however his mother convinced him to train to become a teacher. He took classes in an elementary school for about two years, but he always had an inclination towards music. Knowing the risk involved, his father was pretty reluctant while giving his consent. The family decided that Pavarotti would be given a free room as well as a board until he ages 30. After this age, if he doesn’t succeed as a singer, he would be required to earn his living through any means available.

The Start of His Career

Pavarotti started serious studying at the age of 19, in the year 1954, with a prominent teacher and an admired tenor called Arrigo Pola, who also resided in Modena. Pola was well aware of financial problems of the family and hence he offered to give free lessons to Pavarotti. During this time, Pavarotti met a young girl called Adua Veroni and they were married in 1961.

Two and a half years later, Pola moved to Japan and Pavarotti then became an apprentice of Ettore Campogalliani. Campogalliani was also giving lessons to Pavarotti’s childhood friend called Mirella Freni, now known as soprano (the highest singing female voice). In order to sustain himself, Pavarotti held a number of part-time jobs. He first served as an elementary teacher but then when he failed at this job, he became an insurance salesman.

The initial six years of study led to nothing important but a few recitals in small towns, all of it without getting paid. During a concert in Ferrara, Italy, a small lump (nodule) developed on his vocal chords and led to the disaster in the concert. At this point, he decided to give up on singing; however his voice suddenly improved after this incident. Due to some unknown reason, the nodule disappeared and he found the voice that he always wanted to achieve.

The Journey to Success

In 1961, Pavarotti won the first prize in the Achille Peri Competition. Despite a successful debut, he had to strategize certain things, so as to get a few more contracts. Alesandro Ziliani, a well-known agent who attended Pavarotti’s concerts, offered to represent him after hearing him as an audience. In 1963, he replaced Giuseppe di Stefano and performed in a concert at London. This concert at Covent Garden was a huge success and his voice matched well with the production. 19th century Italian opera forms a major part of Pavarotti’s collection, especially Donizetti, Puccini and Verdi. He was extremely comfortable while singing their music and Pavarotti is known to sing fewer recitals since he considered them to be more exhausting than opera.

Not many opera singers make good actors, however Pavarotti spent a lot of time around the mid 1980’s and polished his acting skills, along with consistent singing. He starred in a commercial film called “Yes, Giorgio” in the year 1972. Later on, his solo album based on the Neapolitan songs called “O Sole Mio” outsold all records by any other classical singer. All through the eighties, he soared in popularity and become a leading figure in the world of opera. He broadened his appeal with televised performances and famous concerts. Pavarotti reached out to millions of viewers with his solo concerts or opera performances. He started showing great potential as a recording artist and recorded a number of Italian folk songs and classical operas. By the time he staged his first ever ‘The Three Tenors’ concert in Rome, he was already popular.

Criticisms

Pavarotti experienced his share of rejection and criticism as well. He was banned from contracts with the ‘Lyric Opera’ in the year 1989 since he canceled a series of performances due to ill health. He was also sued by BBC (British Broadcasting Company) since he sold the lip-synced concert to the company. During a performance at La Scala, he was booed while performing ‘Don Carlo’.

Death

During an international farewell tour in July 2006, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Pavarotti fought against the implications of the condition and went through a major abdominal surgery, so as to gain fitness for his final musical commitments. However, he died in Modena at the age of 71 on September 6, 2007. Pavarotti is survived by his wife Adua (whom he was married to for 34 years) and his second wife Nicoletta Mantovani. He had four daughters and the fortune of 300 million euros was amicably split between them. Tributes were paid to the legend and there was a concert organized by performers trained by Pavarotti in the Avery Fisher Hall of New York City.

Bob Marley was a Jamaican musician and singer-songwriter. He was the lead guitarist, songwriter and singer for rocksteady, ska as well as reggae bands including “The Wailers” and “Bob Marley & the Wailers”. He remains to be one of the most popular and revered artist of reggae music. He is also responsible for spreading the Jamaican music as well as the Rastafri movement to a global audience. His last compilation album called “Legend” was released in 1984 and sold 20 millions copies across the globe.

Early Life

Bob Marley was born as “Robert Nesta Bob Marley” in a small village called “Nine Mile” in Saint Ann Parish on February 6, 1945. Norval Sinclair Marley, his father, was a Jamaican from the English descent, whose family belonged to Essex, England. He served as a captain in the Royal Marines and was a plantation overseer as well. He married an 18 years old Afro-American called Cedella Booker. His father often went out for long trips and hardly saw his family; however he continued to support them financially. His father died of a heart attack in the year 1955, when Bob Marley was only ten years old. Throughout his life, he was teased due to his mixed racial inheritance and he was often asked questions about his own identity. His mother was black and his father was white, however he claimed that he was only on the side of God who created him the way he is. Based on his contemporary beliefs, he self-identified himself as a black African. In some of his songs such as “Blackman redemption”, “Black survivor” as well as “Babylon system”, he speaks of struggles of Africans against the racial discrimination from the West.

Early Career

Bob Marley soon became friends with Neville Livingston (also known as Bunny Wailer) and started playing music with him. He left school by the age of 14 for the purpose of making some music with a local singer called Joe Higgs, who was also a devoted Rastafari. During one of the jam sessions with Livingston and Higgs, he met Peter McIntosh, who also shared the same musical ambitions. Marley came up with his first two singles in the year 1962 with Leslie Kong, namely “One Cup of Coffee” and “Judge Not”. These songs gained little attention when they were released; however they were included in the box set of Marley’s work.

Wife & Children

Bob Marley was married to Rita and had three children. His wife had two adopted children from her previous relationships. Marley also had children from other women. His official website acknowledges as many as eleven children.

The Wailers

Bob Marley, along with Junior Braithwaite, Bunny Wailer, Beverly Kelso, Peter Tosh and Cherry Smith found a rockstead group and named it “The Teenagers”. They later renamed themselves to “The Wailing Rudeboys” and then “The Wailing Wailers”. Coxsone Dodd, a record producer later discovered the troupe and they were finally named “The Wailers”. Kelso, Smith and Braithwaite left the group in 1966 and after that Marley had a conflict with the producer. This led to the formation of ‘The Upsetters’. Although the group did not survive for long, they recorded some of the finest works till date. There was a dispute about the recording rights, between Marley and Perry. They split later on, but remained friends for long. The Wailers broke off completely in 1974 and the remaining members went on to pursue solo careers. There were different rumours about the breakup within the group. Some believed that the members had issues with the copyrights, whereas some claimed that the members wanted to go solo. Marley still continued to record as “Bob Marley and The Wailers”, despite the break up. There were 11 albums recorded under this name, seven of them were studio albums and four of them were live albums.

Illness

Bob Marley was known to have acral lentiginious melanoma in 1977, which was a simple wound picked up during a football match. Despite the malignant melanoma, he completed a tour of Europe along with his band in 1980. Shortly after, his health started deteriorating and the cancer was spread all over the body. He sought treatment from the Bavarian clinic in Josef Issels and was given a special cancer therapy, which involved the avoidance of specific food items, drinks as well as other substances. He fought for eight more months, before boarding a plane for Jamaica.

Death and Posthumous Reputation

Marley almost accepted that he was going to die, while flying from Germany to Jamaica. His condition worsened thereafter and he was taken to the hospital for immediate assistance. He died in Miami on May 11, 1981 at the ‘Cedars of Lebanon’ hospital. The melanoma spread to his brains and lungs, which led to his death at the age of 36. He said his final words to his son, where he claimed that ‘money cannot buy life’. Bob Marley was given a state funeral in Jamaica that combined the elements of Rastafare tradition and Ethiopian Orthodoxy. He was buried close to his birthplace on May 21, 1981. He got the ‘Jamaican Order of Merit’, just a month before his death.

Bob Marley was inducted to the ‘Rock & Roll’ Hall of Fame in 1994, whereas Time Magazine chose ‘Exodus’ as the biggest album of the century. There was a feature-length documentary about him, made by Rebel Music, which won several Grammys. Also, he was given the posthumous ‘Lifetime Achievement Award” at the Grammys in the year 2001.

Religion

Bob Marley happened to be a member of the Rastafari tradition. The culture of this religion turned out to be instrumental in the development of reggae. He became the main proponent of the tradition, taking music from the socially deprived regions of Jamaica, on to the international scene. Marley was a vegetarian since Rastas practiced a diet that excluded meat.