Celebrity Deathwatch News: Johnny Cash hospitalized, in serious condition

["Deathwatch Central" <cdw@slick.org>]

http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Music/9910/20/johnny.cash/

Johnny Cash hospitalized, in serious condition

October 20, 1999
Web posted at: 5:22 p.m. EDT (2122 GMT)

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) -- Country music legend Johnny Cash, who is
suffering from a degenerative nerve disease, was being treated in a
Nashville hospital Wednesday.

Cash, 67, was listed in serious condition, according to Lois Bland, who
works in the communications office at Baptist Hospital in Nashville. He was
admitted Sunday for treatment of pneumonia; the hospital would not say
whether he was in the intensive care unit.

The singer, a fixture on the country music scene for more than 40 years,
suffers from Shy-Drager Syndrome, a disease that attacks the nervous system
in much the same way that Parkinson's disease does. He has been in and out
of hospitals several times this year.

At one point in his career, Cash played some 200 concerts a year. However,
his touring schedule has been cut back in recent years. He called off a
scheduled concert lineup and a tour to promote his book, "Cash: The
Autobiography," in 1997 after his disease worsened.

But he was able to return to the stage in April at an all-star concert in
New York. Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Bruce Springsteen and others all
dressed in black for the occasion, in tribute to the "The Man in Black."

Known for songs like "Folsom Prison Blues" and "I Walk the Line," Cash was
inducted to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

He has been married to June Carter Cash since 1968. He has seven children.

Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.


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