Legendary singer Johnny Cash, known around the world as "The Man In Black", has died aged 71, a Tennessee hospital has confirmed.
The country music star had been released from Nashville's Baptist Hospital on Tuesday, two weeks after checking in with a stomach ailment. However, he apparently returned to the ward, where he passed away early Friday morning.
"Johnny died due to complications from diabetes, which resulted in respiratory failure," said his manager, Lou Robin, in a press release. "I hope that friends and fans… will pray for the Cash family to find comfort during this very difficult time." The 11-time Grammy winner had battled a disease of the nervous system, autonomic neuropathy, as well as pneumonia in recent years.
The Arkansas-born star's fan base covered generations, as demonstrated earlier this month at the MTV music awards, where he was nominated for six trophies. Because Johnny's illness had kept him away from the event, a number of his famous followers, including singer Justin Timberlake, had paid tribute to their idol.
As the N Sync singer picked up his award for the Best Male Video category, for which Johnny was also nominated, he declared: "My grandfather raised me on Johnny Cash… and I think he deserves this better than any of us here tonight." The video for Hurt, Johnny's take on the Nine Inch Nails song, won best cinematography.
Sadly, this is the second loss for the Cash family this year. Johnny's wife, singer June Carter Cash, died of complications from heart surgery in May.
Johnny was working on his next album, which had been tentatively titled, American V. Earlier this week manger Lou Robin revealed that the famed vocalist had already recorded 52 tracks for the project, and was planning to select 16 songs for the new disc.
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