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CNN Live Today
Johnny Cash Dies
Aired September 12, 2003 - 10:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Our next guest is Kurt Loder of MTV News. He conducted the last interview with Johnny Cash, and did he that for MTV.
Kurt, glad to have you with on this morning.
KURT LODER, MTV NEWS: Good to be here, Daryn.
KAGAN: Thank you. Tell us about this last interview that you did.
LODER: We went down to Johnny's home. He lived in Hendersonville, right outside of Nashville, and he was very frail. He came down. He spent most of his time in a wheelchair, but he was very -- he understood that his time was almost up, and he told us his faith was unshakable, and it was like four months after his wife died, and I think he was prepared to go wherever he was going.
KAGAN: When you think about this year, they talk about his having diabetes and being sick for a long time, but doesn't part of you think that perhaps he died from a broken heart, the great love of his life, June Carter Cash, passing away in May?
LODER: I think, yes, you're tempted to think that, because they were together for so long. They were married for such a long time, and they were really, really devoted to each other, and you would think that. It seems like something happens when the spouse passes away and he would pass away. I wouldn't be surprised if that were one of the root causes, although he had asthma, and diabetes and glaucoma. He was not in very good shape at the end.
KAGAN: The legacy, that this man leaves behind, the career that he had. I mean, this is a man who was breaking through on Sun Records in the day when Elvis was breaking through. And then, as we mentioned, the seven nominations for "Hurt," for the cover of the Nine Inch Nails song. That was just last at the MTV VMAs. That was just last month. That's incredible, that span.
LODER: He worked right up until the end. He was still huge. The MTV audience was introduced to him. He was a pioneer rockabilly. He was there at the creation of white rock 'n' roll, now, with Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley, and Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis, and now Jerry Lee is the last one left.
KAGAN: And a spokesman for the working man and the downtrodden. He felt like he sang for and sang about people that didn't really get respect in necessarily Hollywood or Nashville, but just in the entertainment business.
LODER: Indeed. He sort of crusaded for prisoner rights. He was in jail himself. He crusaded for Indian, Native American rights. And he was always committed to that sort of thing. He wore black, and he wanted to raise people up. And he was connected with country all of his life, but he was a star in rock 'n' roll. He was a fundamental power in American music, I think.
KAGAN: The man in black, instead of rhinestones, went his own way and leaves behind a great legacy. Kurt, thank you for that. Kurt Loder of MTV News. Appreciate it.
LODER: You're welcome.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 12, 2003 - 10:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Our next guest is Kurt Loder of MTV News. He conducted the last interview with Johnny Cash, and did he that for MTV.
Kurt, glad to have you with on this morning.
KURT LODER, MTV NEWS: Good to be here, Daryn.
KAGAN: Thank you. Tell us about this last interview that you did.
LODER: We went down to Johnny's home. He lived in Hendersonville, right outside of Nashville, and he was very frail. He came down. He spent most of his time in a wheelchair, but he was very -- he understood that his time was almost up, and he told us his faith was unshakable, and it was like four months after his wife died, and I think he was prepared to go wherever he was going.
KAGAN: When you think about this year, they talk about his having diabetes and being sick for a long time, but doesn't part of you think that perhaps he died from a broken heart, the great love of his life, June Carter Cash, passing away in May?
LODER: I think, yes, you're tempted to think that, because they were together for so long. They were married for such a long time, and they were really, really devoted to each other, and you would think that. It seems like something happens when the spouse passes away and he would pass away. I wouldn't be surprised if that were one of the root causes, although he had asthma, and diabetes and glaucoma. He was not in very good shape at the end.
KAGAN: The legacy, that this man leaves behind, the career that he had. I mean, this is a man who was breaking through on Sun Records in the day when Elvis was breaking through. And then, as we mentioned, the seven nominations for "Hurt," for the cover of the Nine Inch Nails song. That was just last at the MTV VMAs. That was just last month. That's incredible, that span.
LODER: He worked right up until the end. He was still huge. The MTV audience was introduced to him. He was a pioneer rockabilly. He was there at the creation of white rock 'n' roll, now, with Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley, and Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis, and now Jerry Lee is the last one left.
KAGAN: And a spokesman for the working man and the downtrodden. He felt like he sang for and sang about people that didn't really get respect in necessarily Hollywood or Nashville, but just in the entertainment business.
LODER: Indeed. He sort of crusaded for prisoner rights. He was in jail himself. He crusaded for Indian, Native American rights. And he was always committed to that sort of thing. He wore black, and he wanted to raise people up. And he was connected with country all of his life, but he was a star in rock 'n' roll. He was a fundamental power in American music, I think.
KAGAN: The man in black, instead of rhinestones, went his own way and leaves behind a great legacy. Kurt, thank you for that. Kurt Loder of MTV News. Appreciate it.
LODER: You're welcome.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
