# Johnny Cash albums discography
The Johnny Cash albums discography covers the long-playing releases of the American singer-songwriter [Johnny Cash](https://www.edgepedia.org/johnny-cash) (1932–2003) across six decades, from his first [Sun Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/sun-records) album in 1957 to the posthumous *[Songwriter](https://www.edgepedia.org/songwriter-johnny-cash-album)* in 2024. One fan-compiled chronological listing counts 71 studio albums, from *Johnny Cash With His Hot and Blue Guitar* (1957) to *Songwriter* (2024)[1](https://thealbumorder.com/johnny-cash), and Cash sold over 90 million albums in a career of nearly fifty years[2](https://sunrecords.com/artists/johnny-cash/). His catalog spans Sun Records, Columbia Records, Mercury, and the American Recordings label, and includes gospel albums, concept albums, live prison albums, and a growing body of posthumous releases drawn from his vault[3](https://johnny-cash-infocenter.com/discography/albums/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| First album | *Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar* (November 1957), making Cash the first Sun artist to release a long-playing album[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/cash-mn0000816890) |
| Label eras | Sun Records (1954–1958), Columbia Records (1958–1986), Mercury (1986–1991), American Recordings (1994–2003)[5](https://time.com/3786487/johnny-cash/) • [3](https://johnny-cash-infocenter.com/discography/albums/) |
| Chart peak | Eight No. 1 albums in an eight-year span, 1963–1971, including *At Folsom Prison* and *At San Quentin*[6](https://jazzdiscography.com/johnny-cash-discography/) |
| Biggest live albums | *At Folsom Prison* (1968), No. 1 country and No. 13 pop; *At San Quentin* (1969), which sold even better[7](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2003/BB-2003-09-27.pdf) • [8](https://arkreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/46.2-Aug2015-br.pdf) |
| Late-career series | *American Recordings* (1994) through *American VI: Ain't No Grave* (2010) with producer Rick Rubin[3](https://johnny-cash-infocenter.com/discography/albums/) |
| Posthumous albums | *American V: A Hundred Highways* (2006), *American VI: Ain't No Grave* (2010), *Out Among the Stars* (2014), *Songwriter* (2024)[3](https://johnny-cash-infocenter.com/discography/albums/) • [9](https://www.johnnycash.com/releases/) |
| Singles output | 137 charting singles between 1955 and 2003[7](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2003/BB-2003-09-27.pdf) |
## Sun Records, 1957–1958
Cash signed with Sun Records on October 17, 1954, and his early output there was singles-focused rather than album-focused[10](https://www.johnnycash.com/timeline-milestones/). Sun Records put out only one real album by Cash, *Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar*, which mostly consisted of previously released material[8](https://arkreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/46.2-Aug2015-br.pdf). In November 1957 he became the first Sun artist to release a long-playing album when the album reached stores[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/cash-mn0000816890). That same year Cash had the chance to make his gospel record, *Hymns by Johnny Cash*, which began a series of thematic albums that ran into the 1970s[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/cash-mn0000816890). His Sun stint was short: he moved to Columbia in 1958, in part because producer [Sam Phillips](https://www.edgepedia.org/sam-phillips) would not let him record gospel music[5](https://time.com/3786487/johnny-cash/).
## Columbia and the concept albums, 1958–1967
At Columbia, Cash's first album was *The Fabulous Johnny Cash* (1958), the opening title of the label's complete album box set[11](https://www.tonepublications.com/MAGPDF/TA_051.pdf). Through the 1960s he increasingly turned to concept albums, recording *Ride This Train* (1960), *Blood, Sweat and Tears* (1962), *Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian* (1964), and *Ballads of the True West* (1965)[12](https://countrymusichalloffame.org/hall-of-fame/johnny-cash). A contemporary account calls *Ride This Train* one of the first concept albums in country music[13](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1980/CB-1980-06-14.pdf). Hit singles such as "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" (1959) and "Ring of Fire" (1963) ran alongside these projects[12](https://countrymusichalloffame.org/hall-of-fame/johnny-cash).
## The prison albums and the peak years, 1968–1971
On January 13, 1968, Cash recorded *At Folsom Prison* live at the California penitentiary; the album went to No. 1 on the country album chart and No. 13 on the pop chart[7](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2003/BB-2003-09-27.pdf). One later account gives the pop peak as No. 15[14](https://www.psaudio.com/blogs/copper/johnny-cash-bears-sonic-journals-johnny-cash-at-the-carousel-ballroom-april-24-1968). The album and his 1969 live album *At San Quentin* pushed his career to new heights, and *At San Quentin* sold even better than *At Folsom Prison*[12](https://countrymusichalloffame.org/hall-of-fame/johnny-cash) • [8](https://arkreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/46.2-Aug2015-br.pdf). "[A Boy Named Sue](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-boy-named-sue)," taken from the San Quentin album, became Cash's biggest-selling single[12](https://countrymusichalloffame.org/hall-of-fame/johnny-cash).
Eight of his albums reached No. 1 in an eight-year span: *Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash* (1963), *I Walk The Line* (1964), *Johnny Cash's Greatest Hits* (1967), *At Folsom Prison* (1968), *At San Quentin* (1969), *Hello, I'm Johnny Cash* (1970), *The Johnny Cash Show* (1970), and *Man In Black* (1971)[6](https://jazzdiscography.com/johnny-cash-discography/). Through this period Cash usually issued at least two albums a year[13](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1980/CB-1980-06-14.pdf).
## Later Columbia, Mercury, and the Highwaymen years
As the 1970s progressed, Cash's hit records grew more infrequent[12](https://countrymusichalloffame.org/hall-of-fame/johnny-cash). In 1985 he earned a No. 1 hit with the title cut of the [Highwayman](https://www.edgepedia.org/highwayman) album, recorded with [Waylon Jennings](https://www.edgepedia.org/waylon-jennings), Willie Nelson, and [Kris Kristofferson](https://www.edgepedia.org/kris-kristofferson); the foursome recorded two more albums, *Highwayman 2* (1990) and *Highwayman: The Road Goes on Forever* (1995)[12](https://countrymusichalloffame.org/hall-of-fame/johnny-cash). Cash recorded for Mercury from 1986 to 1991, a period later gathered on *The Complete Mercury Recordings 1986–1991* (2020)[9](https://www.johnnycash.com/releases/).
The Columbia catalog was later boxed in full: *The Complete Columbia Album Collection* (2012) spans *The Fabulous Johnny Cash* (1958) through *Heroes* (1986, with Waylon Jennings), including 35 albums never before released on disc in the U.S. and Cash's first 19 titles presented in mono[11](https://www.tonepublications.com/MAGPDF/TA_051.pdf).
## American Recordings, 1994–2003
In the 1990s Cash experienced a career revival after producer [Rick Rubin](https://www.edgepedia.org/rick-rubin), through the stripped-down *American Recordings* albums, brought his music to a fresh audience of younger fans.[7](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2003/BB-2003-09-27.pdf) The first album, *American Recordings* (1994), was a no-frills guitar-and-voice collection recorded largely in Rubin's Los Angeles home, with covers including [Leonard Cohen](https://www.edgepedia.org/leonard-cohen)'s "Bird on a Wire," Nick Lowe's "The Beast in Me," and [Glenn Danzig](https://www.edgepedia.org/glenn-danzig)'s "Thirteen"[15](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/johnny-cash-best-albums). The series continued with *American II: Unchained* (1996), *American III: Solitary Man* (2000), and *American IV: The Man Comes Around* (2002)[3](https://johnny-cash-infocenter.com/discography/albums/). *American IV*, Cash's final album released in his lifetime, found the 71-year-old covering well-known songs from unlikely sources, including Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt"[16](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/how-johnny-cash-drew-on-his-own-experiences-to-make-his-greatest-songs).
## Posthumous releases
Several albums have appeared after Cash's death in September 2003. *American V: A Hundred Highways* (2006) and *American VI: Ain't No Grave* (2010) were assembled from his final sessions with Rubin[3](https://johnny-cash-infocenter.com/discography/albums/). *Out Among the Stars*, an album of twelve recordings made in the early 1980s with countrypolitan producer Billy Sherrill, was shelved by Columbia and released on March 25, 2014, after Cash's son [John Carter Cash](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-carter-cash) found it in the recording archives[9](https://www.johnnycash.com/releases/) • [17](https://time.com/31929/a-vault-full-of-vintage-cash/). *Songwriter*, released June 28, 2024, was made from previously unreleased 1993 recordings and stands as Cash's final studio album[18](https://www.johnnycash.com/news-index/) • [1](https://thealbumorder.com/johnny-cash). Other posthumous projects include the *Forever Words* series (expanded edition 2020), setting his unpublished writings to music by artists such as [Alison Krauss](https://www.edgepedia.org/alison-krauss), Chris Cornell, Willie Nelson, and [Elvis Costello](https://www.edgepedia.org/elvis-costello)[19](https://elpais.com/babelia/2024-08-17/la-ultima-resurreccion-de-johnny-cash.html).
## References
1. [Johnny Cash Albums in Order — All 71 Studio Albums by Year, thealbumorder.com](https://thealbumorder.com/johnny-cash)
2. [Johnny Cash Biography, Sun Records](https://sunrecords.com/artists/johnny-cash/)
3. [Johnny Cash Albums, Johnny Cash Infocenter](https://johnny-cash-infocenter.com/discography/albums/)
4. [Johnny Cash — Biography, Discography, Albums & Expert Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/cash-mn0000816890)
5. [Happy 80th Birthday, Johnny Cash, Time](https://time.com/3786487/johnny-cash/)
6. [Johnny Cash Discography, jazzdiscography.com](https://jazzdiscography.com/johnny-cash-discography/)
7. [Cash: He Walked The Line, Billboard (September 27, 2003)](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2003/BB-2003-09-27.pdf)
8. [Arkansas Review 46.2 (August 2015), book review](https://arkreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/46.2-Aug2015-br.pdf)
9. [Music Releases, Johnny Cash Official Site](https://www.johnnycash.com/releases/)
10. [Timeline, Johnny Cash Official Site](https://www.johnnycash.com/timeline-milestones/)
11. [The Complete Columbia Album Collection review, Tone Publications](https://www.tonepublications.com/MAGPDF/TA_051.pdf)
12. [Johnny Cash, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum](https://countrymusichalloffame.org/hall-of-fame/johnny-cash)
13. [Johnny Cash: The First 25 Years, Cash Box (June 14, 1980)](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1980/CB-1980-06-14.pdf)
14. [Johnny Cash at the Carousel Ballroom liner notes, PS Audio](https://www.psaudio.com/blogs/copper/johnny-cash-bears-sonic-journals-johnny-cash-at-the-carousel-ballroom-april-24-1968)
15. [Nine Johnny Cash albums you should listen to, Louder](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/johnny-cash-best-albums)
16. [How Johnny Cash drew on his own experiences to make his greatest songs, MusicRadar](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/how-johnny-cash-drew-on-his-own-experiences-to-make-his-greatest-songs)
17. [A Vault Full of Vintage Cash, Time](https://time.com/31929/a-vault-full-of-vintage-cash/)
18. [News, Johnny Cash Official Site](https://www.johnnycash.com/news-index/)
19. [La última resurrección de Johnny Cash, El País](https://elpais.com/babelia/2024-08-17/la-ultima-resurreccion-de-johnny-cash.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Discographies and musical catalogues › Artist and group discographies › Country, folk, blues, and Americana discographies*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license