One of the most ambitious and literary songwriters of her generation” (Rolling Stone), Rosanne Cash is America’s foremost musical woman of letters, a literate and incisive artist whose poignant and distinctive vocals turn every song into a revelatory tale. A singular artist at the peak of her interpretive powers, Cash has earned four Grammy awards—three for The River & The Thread (2014, Blue Note)—and 12 additional nominations. Among many other accolades, in 2021 she became the first woman to receive the Edward MacDowell award for music composition. Her acclaimed 2010 memoir Composed has been described by the Chicago Tribune as “one of the best accounts of an American life you’ll likely ever read.” Cash was recently elected as an Honorary American member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
“I consider artists to be in the service industry; the premier service industry for the heart and soul. I am curious to a pathological degree and the Sword of Time hangs over me, and those two things— curiosity and the hourglass— make me feel more urgent than ever to connect, to find community, and to create. It doesn’t matter what the world thinks, it only matters that what is unsaid and what is unseen is given form and has a voice.”
In 2023 Rosanne and her husband John Leventhal, the six-time Grammy winning songwriter, producer and life-long creative partner, launched RumbleStrip Records, an initiative to reexamine and reissue Rosanne's early work, originally released on Columbia / Sony Music, and beyond.
The first two releases were a deluxe remastered version and first vinyl pressing of the 30th anniversary of Cash’s landmark album The Wheel and Leventhal’s debut solo album, Rumble Strip (2024), released 50 years into his remarkable career. 2025 begins with The Essential Collection, a new 40 song/40 year 2CD compilation highlighting Rosanne’s deep catalogue of songs including 10 number 1 hits. The album coincides with the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum exhibit, Rosanne Cash:Time Is A Mirror. The exhibit explores Cash’s more than 40-year journey as an artist, songwriter and storyteller, and how she has embodied both tradition and innovation across her musical career. It runs through March 2026.
Cash and Leventhal are currently writing the music to the theatrical production of Norma Rae.