JOHNNY CASH - JOHNNY CASH'S HOUSE 'A RING OF FIRE'

JOHNNY CASH'S HOUSE 'A RING OF FIRE'

Johnny Cash's former Tennessee home burned down yesterday, leaving nothing but the building's stone chimneys remaining.

The home of the late country singer was being renovated by its current owner, Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees, according to reports.

It is not known what caused the fire at the lakeside property in Hendersonville, which was previously home to Cash and his wife June Carter Cash, but local fire chief Jamie Steele told the Associated
Press news agency that the flames had spread rapidly as a result of construction workers having applied a flammable wood preservative to the outside of the house.

Cash's former son-in-law Marty Stuart, who lives next door, explained the cultural importance of the three-storey wooden house to the news agency.

"So many prominent things and prominent people in American history took place in that house - everyone from Billy Graham to Bob Dylan went into that house," he said.

The video for Cash's final song, Hurt, was partly shot inside the property, which was home to the singer and his wife June Carter Cash from 1968 until their deaths, just months apart, in 2003.