Dee Snider recently shared an article from Far Out Magazine about Johnny Cash defending heavy metal music, claiming Cash was metal too.
Snider confirmed the article’s claims in his tweet, saying, ‘All true.’ He also mentioned that Cash’s children were fans of Twisted Sister, and that Cash, Waylon Jennings, and their kids attended one of their concerts to meet the band. When a fan pointed out that many heavy metal fans also like Johnny Cash, Snider responded, “Johnny Cash was metal as fuck!”
Johnny Cash never saw heavy metal as a problem. He grew up in a religious household with strong Southern Baptist beliefs, but unlike many preachers at the time, he didn’t believe rock and roll or metal was “the devil’s music.” Religious leaders and conservative groups spoke out against the genre, but Cash defended it.
Metal became a target of censorship in the 1980s. The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) pressured the U.S. Senate to put warning labels on albums, focusing on metal bands like Judas Priest, Mötley Crüe, Twisted Sister, Def Leppard, Black Sabbath, and W.A.S.P.
Many musicians spoke out against it, and so did Johnny Cash. Cash criticized censorship around the time of the PMRC hearings, saying, “How presumptuous people are my age to think that they’re finally going to do something toward raisin’ their kids right by censoring three minutes of what they hear in a day’s dialogue.”
Cash’s interest in metal wasn’t just about defending freedom of speech. His kids were metal fans. Iron Maiden singer Brian Dickinson once shared a story about Cash asking him for an autograph, saying, “He said, ‘Hey, uh, listen. I’m really embarrassed about this. You couldn’t sign this for my daughter? She’s a big fan.’”
Johnny Cash passed away on September 12, 2003, at the age of 71, due to complications from diabetes. He died less than four months after his wife, June Carter Cash.
Seems like a lot of heavy metal fans are also Johnny Cash fans. At least I am.
— Rick Bond🤘 (@bondrkm) February 21, 2025
Johnny Cash was metal as fuck! https://t.co/TRtcD2HHuN
— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) February 21, 2025
