The bronze statue of "The Man in Black" was created by Little Rock sculptor Kevin Kresse and was unveiled in the presence of congress members, representatives from Arkansas, and members of the Cash family.
Each state has the opportunity to donate two statues depicting particularly significant individuals to the Capitol's collections. Arkansas voted in 2019 to replace two previous statues of little-known figures from the 1700s and 1800s with Cash and civil rights activist Daisy Bates, who was unveiled earlier this year.
Among competing statue ideas were Walmart founder Sam Walton and a Navy Seal soldier from the state who was killed in Afghanistan.
Johnny Cash was born in 1932 in Kingsland, south of Little Rock, and was active in country, rock, blues, folk, and gospel music. He has sold 90 million records and is one of the few artists to be inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Cash passed away in 2003, at the age of 71.
