Johnny Cash's Tennessee home of nearly 40 years has been destroyed in a fire.
The residence, where the legendary country singer lived with his wife June Carter Cash since 1968, burned down on Tuesday while builders were renovating the house for its new owner, Bee Gee's star Barry Gibb. One fireman was injured while tackling the blaze, the origins of which are yet to be identified.
A spokesperson for the fire department said the blaze spread quickly because a flammable wood preservative had been applied to much of the timber structure before the blaze took hold.
"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," neighbour Marty Stuart, a country singer, told AP.
"It was a sanctuary and a fortress for him. There was a lot of writing that took place there. The Folsom Prison record came from there, the San Quentin record, The Holy Land, the Man in Black book came from there."
The interior of the house featured in Cash's last video appearance, for his cover version of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt".
