Johnny Cash Recorded "Hurt" at 71 Years Old — What Rick Rubin Saw in That Room Changed Music History

An old man sits down at a piano with trembling hands and sings a song that was never meant to be his — and turns it into the most honest four minutes of his life. This is the true story of Johnny Cash, the Man in Black, and the recording of "Hurt," from the cotton fields of Dyess, Arkansas to Rick Rubin's living room in Los Angeles. It's a story about June Carter Cash, about addiction and redemption, and about what it costs to tell the truth when you have nothing left to hide. Watch to the end to understand why, more than twenty years later, people still can't forget the sound of his voice in that final verse.