Johnny Cash Museum

A gleaming jewel in Nashville, TN. Just off Broadway, the Johnny Cash Museum is worth the $30 ticket price. A tremendous amount of memorabilia from early writing, personal artwork, letters from throughout his life, clothing (of Johnny's and June's) worn throughout his prolific career, musical instruments, letters from those he collaborated with, and a moving journey in vivid pictures, as well as stirring movies of performances with outstanding sound quality. The museum takes you from his birth as John (J.R.) Cash, school days and Arkansas childhood, through adolescence and into military service, then to his first marriage and start of his musical career. Documents highlight his persistence and string of early hits through the 1950s, then his divorce, respite, and marriage to June Carter in the 1960s which reignited his career and deep faith. Highlights from Johnny's entire career are represented through his enduring work in music, TV and film in the 1970s and '80s, and including his final recordings through the collaboration with American Recordings the year before he left this earth. Moving videos, music and pictures throughout! The museum features numerous recordings of memorable songs over speakers and available on headphones throughout the tour. Remarkable country, Christian, and patriotic music from Johnny in his phases and stages over half a century. This Man in Black was such an American treasure and this museum features a presentation of records, awards, artwork, photos, letters, clothing, and the sweet music from a man who sang about truth, people, and this country he loved. Superb experience and worth the money. I recommend at least 90 minutes if you want to appreciate it, and longer if you care to read more of the signs & enjoy more of the songs and videos. Finally, the museum ends in the giftshop where you began which has a few shirts, mugs and touristy items, but also rare, expensive, signed merchandise for sale that is quite unique and cool to see!

Plan to spend about an hour to an hour and a half here. The museum is packed with memorabilia and does a great job taking you on a full journey through Johnny Cash’s life — from his childhood and time in the Air Force to the highs, lows, and comebacks of his legendary career. It’s very well laid out, informative, and easy to follow, even if you’re not a hardcore fan. You leave with a real appreciation for the man behind the music. Bonus tip: It’s right next door to Sun Diner — grab breakfast or lunch there after your visit. Trust me… thank me later. 🎶🍳

I'm sad to say, my expectations for the Johnny Cash Museum in Nashville crashed and burned down faster than a ring of fire! I bought tickets online because every site said that would let us skip the line but when we arrived, the line was still long, stuffy, and full of people packed close together. Once inside, the memorabilia was cool, but really, that’s just because Johnny Cash himself was so cool. The museum should have done him more justice, but it really lacked life and, most importantly... MUSIC!That’s when it hit us! The one thing missing from the Johnny Cash Museum was Johnny’s sound!!! My sister, a lifelong Johnny Cash fan, quietly pulled out her phone and started playing Ring of Fire. Instantly, the whole place changed! People walking by started tapping their fingers, smiling, and moving differently. It brought energy and soul to what had felt like a stale atmosphere. I get that each display has headphones and video stations, but not everyone wants to stand and wait for those. A little background music would have gone a long way! Especially being a self guided tour. They clearly love Johnny, but it felt more like a library than a tribute to one of the greatest musical legends of all time. At least for a few minutes, thanks to Ring of Fire and my soulful sister, the Man in Black’s spirit came back to life!

A must see stop in downtown Nashville! Absolutely loved the Johnny Cash Museum. it’s small but packed with amazing history, energy and emotion. You can walk through his entire journey from early posters and guitars to walls full of records and albums. Seeing his guitars, tour photos, and all those vintage vinyls was incredible! Photos are allowed which makes the experience even better. There’s so much to capture! The gift shop is really cute too with great souvenirs and Johnny Cash merch that’s hard to find anywhere else. The vibe is pure Nashville friendly staff, great layout and plenty of photo moments if you’re a music or history lover. The museum really makes you feel the power and legacy of “The Man in Black.” Totally worth it, whether you’re a casual fan or a hardcore music traveler like me.

We had a great experience at the Johnny Cash Museum. The collection and content of the museum was good with a lot of history. My husband and I are both fans we learned so many new things about Johnny Cash’s history. Our only complaint is the museum is small and I’d wish you could choose times to enter so you’re able to move around better, read and not keep bumbling into each other.

Content of the museum & gift shop was all good. Not too big, yet enjoyable. The only thing I think could be improved is the lighting, or a better and more strategically arranging of the pieces, since although taking photos is allowed, most of the things are behind glass and indirect lighting is very reflective.

My first time at the Johnny Cash Museum and it will not be the last! It was so much fun and we thoroughly enjoyed learning so much more than we already knew about Johnny Cash and his life and his philanthropy. Everything is put together perfectly and they are working on adding more on the second floor soon.

Such a cool place!! So neat to see everything and read all about his life. Such a cool collection of memorabilia.

I thought I wrote a whole review for this place! I mean what can you say? If you are a fan of Johnny Cash, then you are going to love this place! I will first say, this place is small but there is a lot to see! With that being said, I was obsessively looking through reviews for how long it would typically take to walk through prior to visiting. We only had time our last day and only could squeeze in a 2 hour window, which was perfect because it took us about 1.5 hours to see everything. Even though Johnny Cash was big before my time, I still grew up listening to his music. Of course I also saw the movie, Walk the Line. I took so many pictures but they definitely do the museum justice. We have done a lot of those corny and super overpriced souvenir pictures at places we visited and we had the opportunity here as well. There is a huge gift shop as well. You don't have to pay and go through the museum to purchase items. The gist shop is actually the first area of when you enter the building. I purchased a shot glass, harmonica, and sweatshirt. The staff were friendly and polite. They looked like they enjoyed working there as well.

While vacationing in Nashville we decided to visit the Johnny Cash Museum. As a Johnny Cash fan the museum was very informative & extensive. I recommend going on a week day, like we did. There are many rooms filled with exhibits & artifacts but each room was small. On a busy weekend it could get crowded & difficult to see everything. The museum covers Cash's life & career, from his poor beginnings in 1932 thru the decades until he died in 2003. This included his time in the Air Force, marriage to June Carter, the prison shows (he was an advocate for prison reform) & of course his music which crossed many genres & much much more. In addition to the fantastic memorabilia there is a wall of his gold & platinum records. Old film footages plays continuously of his performances, TV shows & movies. I was surprised to learn he was a talented artist as well. Check out the gift shop & Cash's Bar & BBQ too. The museum is a wonderful tribute to "The Man in Black"!

Fairly small but very well presented. A bit crowded to really enjoy but they limit folks in groups to keep it from getting too crowded. Price is steep for the size and the Patsy Cline museum above is additional. Worth 30-45 minutes

Awesome! Well worth the money and time, I'm not a huge Johnny cash fan and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lots of memorabilia.

If you grew up hearing JC on your parents record player or loved Johnny Cash yourself, this is a great stop in Nashville. Get there soon after opening if you want to avoid the crowds. Great videos of JC and an opportunity to have a photo taken with JC himself. Just a lot of fun. Can do in an hour or less if needed.

It was pretty pricy for admission and I felt like the layout was not ideal. Johnny Cash is a legend and we had to check it out.

Pretty amazing and small Museum. If you are a Johnny Cash fan, it's a must visit. ALot of the original costumes and instruments make it feel very much like mr Cash is standing beside you.

The museum is much smaller than I thought although we still had a good time. It's a lot of reading if you wanted to see everything. And they also have some interactive things but some of the screens didn't work. We were there in and out within 45 mins. For the price, I would expect more or less admission fees. If you have AAA, they will give you one dollar off or trying to get coupons from hotel lobbies or other attractions (usually there is a rack Of entertainments/activities).

Very small museum but packed with lots of Johnny Cash memorabilia. The museum closes early so I told my wife let's try and hit this place up before lunch. Once inside, it's packed with everything for the man dressed in black. Pictures, albums, awards and family, he really lived an extraordinary life. It was summer when we visited, the guard told me about a speakeasy downstairs?? Now I gotta come back!

This museum was worth every penny of admission. The layout was amazing and easy to follow. started with the Tennessee Two exhibit with items from the band when they started out. Then, there is a breakdown of his life by the decades with statistics of each decade starting with 1950s all the way through the 2010s. artifacts from his whole life scattered throughout.... so much history of one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century, all in one magical place. Highly recommend a visit here for the Johnny Cash fan.

Only way to improve is to not be so freaking popular and being so busy. Would have loved to stick around and look/listen/watch so more stuff but too many visitors. So many great things there.

Great place to visit and learn about this country music legend. Stopped in today and really enjoyed my visit. This museum tells the story of Johnny Cash's life and is chock full of memorabilia. There are videos, guitars, photos, outfits, recordings, and lots of records throughout the museum. It's not terribly big, you can see everything in less than an hour. It's definitely worth a visit if you're in Nashville.

This was one of the top things I wanted to do in Nashville and certainly on the short list for museums as I love and respect Johnny Cash. I was a bit floored by the price - it's a smaller museum and cost was $25 per person to get inside. It's very nice and took us about 45 minutes to go through... but it wasn't worth that high of a price to me. I enjoyed seeing the memorabilia of such a great artist and learning a few new things about him, but wow! Sticker shock!

Excellent museum, far better than expected. Great collection and better presentation. The gift shop is very expensive but over all, if you are in Nashville and never been to the Cash Museum, treat yourself.

Very nice museum filled with lots of information on Johnny Cash, both known and unknown (to me), including his family. I was surprised at how many things other than music he was involved with. If you find yourself in Nashville, you won't go wrong strolling through this museum ... for a $ price $.

Good stuff I love Johnny Cash. I literally wanted everything in here. Cant have Nashville without Johnny Cash! Johnny Cash Museum features the largest archives of Johnny Cash memorabilia in the world from the man and blacks earliest childhood artifacts to the very last song he wrote. What a treat! See Johnny stage, costumes instruments, personal letters, artwork, handwritten songs, as well as artifacts from family members and notable friends. Never been so jealous of a man's wardrobe in my life ! I love Johnny Cash. 5Star.

3.75 rating. If you're into Johnny Cash aka The Man in Black, you'll enjoy this museum very much. It's small but has a lot of Cash memorabilia from his life before the music business up until his death. You can pretty much go through it in an hour. If you're a reader and want to see everything, probably about two. It was a little pricy for two tickets so take your time, even though it's small, there is a lot to see. The gift shop is fairly large and offers a lot as well.

I'd heard good things about this museum. I'm not super into most country music but have a shine for Johnny Cash, so I decided this was a good use of my time in Nashville. Admission is $25 + tax, $28 total. Upon entering, I had some initial panic/regret because the front room was SUPER crowded and the first few items I saw were replicas "similar" to Johnny Cash's possessions, which gave me trepidation. However, I think I just happened to enter at a bit of a rush, because the whole museum wasn't so crowded. Also, there were plenty of authentic objects that actually once belonged to the man in black. There was a good variety of items and exhibits. Though the museum is small, there's plenty to study. Also, a good mix-in of audio & visual elements. One cool section was a "recording studio" area where you can change the mix/sound of a few of his songs. Overall, I found the museum pretty interesting. Navigation was a bit confusing, I think they could use with some clearer signage. However, not a bad place to visit!

I recommend this activity for those visiting Nashville. It was a great experience, from purchasing the tickets with friendly staff and just experience the life of Johnny Cash inside the museum. Also, it's a cool spot to cool down and walk around when it's hot outside.

Well worth the admission price. Cash is definitely an amazing country music icon. I started my love of his music back when I was a kid. My dad had several albums that he would play over and over. Everybody loves a nut was my favorite album. I also enjoyed Ring of Fire. They have several sitting locations where you can watch videos of the past. Be prepared to laugh, sing, praise, and cry,cry,cry. Pictures and memorabilia everywhere! If you are a fan you won't be disappointed. When you are in town please don't miss this place.

In all honesty, if you're a Johnny Cash fan, this museum is definitely worth visiting while you're in Nashville. If you're not familiar with his music/career (like me), then you're betting off spending your $30+ admission fee elsewhere, hence the three stars. I enjoyed the museum, although it was very overcrowded and the space was quite cozy. It was interesting to see his entire life story, from childhood to his death. I can see how some fans can spend hours in here, but I was able to cover the entire museum in about 40 minutes, including the gift shop at the end of your tour.

Cute place to learn all things Cash. I like his music so we thought why not? Lots of biography and discography. The "Hurt" video at the end is a tear jerker. Never knew about his first wife Vivian and have a different perception on Walk the Line now. She was vilified. I'll definitely watch her documentary now

A walk down the history of The Man In Black! Lots to see. Would recommend they got the tour app.. you have to wait for headsets to hear a lot of the displays. But really good time!

LOOOVED this museum. Super small, but packed full of memorabilia. So, JC is my cousin... well, if you count my 2nd cousin, twice removed, then yeah, he's family! So, one of the cool things was a great familiy photo when his daddy was a tyke. I only wish there were names to go with the rest of the folks, but there is something cool about seeing your ancesters in a mseum, amirite? Anyway, definitely work the #on the PDSA process $20 to get in. I really enjoyed it. But, really, is there anything in Nashville NOT to enjoy??? I think not. GO here. Its cheaper than drinking on the same street!

What an interesting museum though a bit pricey since we spent a lot in the gift shop too. The museum was a bit confusing to navigate--seems like we walked around in circles to ensure we didn't miss anything. Tiny bathrooms. They did a great job of covering all aspects of Johnny's life--personal, professional, religious, etc. So many artifacts from his career and homes. I loved the memoir by his daughter Tara. Cool t-shirts and magnets in the gift shop. I want to listen to his biography.

This was one of my bucket list stops here in Nashville. I was truly amazing. The amount of memorabilia that they have saved was truly fantastic. There are letters, notes, close, and all sorts of things from Johnny Cash. Here's the disappointing part to me: it's really kind of disgusting to have to put headsets on throughout the museum that a ton of other people have used. I really wish they had a different way to hear the exhibits. Everyone's ears and hair are not the same so having to use headsets like 30 times was kind of gross. I just didn't want to do it. Other than that we really enjoyed our visit and felt it was well worth the money and time.

We had a great time at the Johnny Cash museum! It was crowded but I was still able to see and read everything I wanted to and honestly I'm happy that many people want to know more about Johnny Cash. It was inconvenient but not unbearable. There were cool artifacts and a ton of information. If you like JC, you'll love the museum. Worth the price of admission. For parking- use Park Whiz, it's way cheaper!

Great tour ! I'm 55, and I recall so much of his life bc my dad was a HUGE fan. The museum is small and crowded, but it was worth the time and bumping elbows.

Definitely better than we thought! When we got here, it looks like a tacky tourist trap (like those Ripley's museums in every tourist town), so we were skeptical, but took a swing anyways... It is pricey too, I think $25/pp, but they do offer AAA discounts and I think first responder and military too (it's only $1 off). Once we got past the ticket counter and were inside, it immediately impressed us! The layout, the exhibits, the actual music playing from different exhibits, etc... All were great and very nicely organized. The various artifacts are fun to look at and read about as well. They have a nice video area showing all sorts of interesting things that Johnny did, definitely worth watching. If you like Country music, southern rock, and/or Johnny Cash, it worth a visit!

How can you go wrong with Johnny Cash? Whether you're a huge fan or a casual, there are some awesome relics in the museum. The gift shop has some nice t-shirts at a reasonable price.

Worth it! I thought it would be a little touristy trap type of thing, but I was pleasantly surprised how well done this museum is. It was not horribly crowded and the price is right. It was so interesting to see the progression of both his personal and professional life and how they grew and changed and matured. His song Hurt and video are playing right before the exit and of course it brought me to tears. Well done. I do wish Johnny would've been able to see it before he left us - but this is a well done tribute.

This was a great tour! I learned so much about Johnny Cash and his influence in country music.

The Johnny Cash museum was very nice and there was a lot to see . If you're a big Cash fan .. this is the place for you .

If you are a Johnny Cash fan like me then you will like this little museum. Located in the heart of downtown Nashville the JCM features a collection of original, restored and reproduced artifacts. They do a great job telling Johnny Cash's story. Its fun to see his costumes, guitars, awards and historical artifacts. They do a great job of helping you feel more connected to JC. The museum highlights his long career, triumphs, struggles and motivations. Its worth the ticket. Recommend.

I visited here during the December holidays. It details every moment of his life from beginning of his life, his family, career, to end of life and legacy, including original artifacts of his life. The information is very thorough and involves lots of videos and clips from movies/shows he was starred or featured in. It just seems like an appropriate place to visit in music city!

When growing up there were only 3 networks and Elvis, Johnny Cash and Hee Haw was on TV at least once a week. So yes, it was a must see when visiting Nashville for the first time.

After finishing our visit to the Country Music Hall of Fame, we hoofed it over to the Johnny Cash museum. Unbeknownst to us at the time, the day of our visit fell on Mr. Cash's birthday! What impeccable timing! The museum opens up into a area to purchase tickets and the museum gift shop. The gentleman who helped with the ticket purchase was outgoing. The exhibit opens up with a timeline of events from his life, including childhood, military service, and performances. After leaving that corridor there are 3 different wings to visit. The museum isn't terribly large so you can easily see the exhibit in 1-2 hours. There are a lot of different listening stations throughout the museum. The final leg of the museum leads up to his final performances. After the museum exhibit concludes you exit out to the gift shop. The shop is diverse and had a lot of different Cash items. The Johnny Cash Bar & BBQ is right next door too! Anyone who is a Cash fan would dig this joint.

this place is small, but they pack a tremendous amount of cool stuff into that small space. The day we visited was quite crowded, but that seems unavoidable for an attraction. This cool in a city as busy as Nashville. Fans are not going to be disappointing. I know I wasn't. I particularly enjoyed the film, showing his various TV and movie appearances.

So many things to do in Nashville...but Johnny Cash Museum was a must for me. You have to buy a ticket from the cashier before you get in line. It's a walk through tour. You can walk through in 10 minutes or you can take hours. Depends on how much you want to read, watch and check out. There are old pictures of Johnny and his family, school records and military information. Lots Of memorabilia like costumes, furniture from the Cash Home. You can sit in some of the theatre rooms and learn more about Johnny and his acting career, his political views and much more. Album covers on the wall, gold medals audio listening areas. Lots of stuff to look at. I highly recommend it. They also have a cool gift shop for all you Cash lovers!!

If you're going to be out in Nashville you have to check out this awesome Johnny Cash museum. It is absolutely amazing and pretty big. You won't be disappointed. We were here for about 2 hours and we also checked out the Patsy Cline museum upstairs. They both are definitely worth it.

My first museum visit while in Nashville was the Johnny Cash Museum. I had a great time. I like that you can buy tickets online. You aren't committed to use them on a particular day, within a particular time slot. I appreciated that flexibility as a first-time visitor to the city and not knowing how much time I'd need to head over, figure out parking, and find this museum. I found parking steps away from the museum. I originally paid for two hours of parking with an online purchase. I actually decided to max it out because my time at this museum and being in this area was great. You can extend it online, too. I have two areas that need improvement with this museum. One is signage. Most who have read my reviews know that I do well with signs. An absence makes me scratch my head to figure things out on my own, like a mouse in some twisted maze. I walked in and there was a line for tickets. The building has the Johnny Cash Museum on the main floor. The Patsy Cline Museum is on the second floor. Even though I knew which floor had which music icon, I had no idea where to go to get in to the Johnny Cash Museum itself. You literally walk in to the gift shop, which was weird, but nice if you just want to visit it and nothing else. I finally saw a woman to the right of the nondescript entrance. I walked over to her. It was the place to show my ticket on my phone. She scanned it, told me to have a good time, and look for the exit at the end. During my visit, I was immersed in so much Cash memorabilia and facts about the man, his music, his life, and a whole lot more. It was nice reading his hand-written letters over the years to his loves. There is a lot of text that accompanies artifacts. If you hate reading, you will like look at all his albums and accolades, and be rather bored afterwards. You can watch brief movies as you go. It's nice if you want to take a load off your feet. I wanted to learn more about the man in black and didn't mind resting my feet. I loved that he had his own show and had Gordon Lightfoot as a guest. Naturally, this Canadian stayed to watch the short documentary again just to soak in Gordon Lightfoot's performance. This museum is nicely curated. You come out admiring Cash's accomplishments, from having his music on reel-to-real and iPods, to all his music honours over the decades. His accolades are vast that they require multiple walls to display them all. Being a tourist, I had the opportunity to get my photo taken with Cash in various poses. The woman helping me out with the props was super nice, making sure that I was good holding a guitar with my wrist splint on. I got both physical photos and digital copies to download. She ended up printing my photos twice, so I got a second set for free. Yay! The signage to exit the museum was also difficult to find. I eventually did, but it took some time to find it. It wasn't obvious to me. I normally get something at a gift shop. It's the other area that needs improvement. I didn't like any of the clothing. The designs were nice, but the material wasn't soft. I can imagine wearing a t-shirt and having it exfoliate my skin as I walked around with it on. The variety was nice in the shop. It's that nothing appealed to me. Weird. I'd return again. I'd also like to check out the Patsy Cline Museum while I'm at it. (267)

I'm a tad dramatic but I literally wanted to get lost in this museum. First and foremost, first time in Nashville. We parked about 6 blocks away in a small lot. They have lots all over the city but this location was jam packed and we weren't going to find street parking. It was about $27.50 for each ticket (including tax). There was a very small wait when we got there. It was definitely busy. If you are a huge fan and music nerd like me, this museum is definitely a must see. They had so much information, artifacts, awards and history packed in here. You can definitely spend 1-2 hours just reading through all the info and soaking it in.

Beautiful museum. It takes about an hour to go through. Completely worth the time. They have a gift shop as you exit.

This place is so wonderful! It's only about $27.50 for each ticket (including tax). There was a very small wait when we got there around 1:30 pm on a Saturday in August, so we were happy about that! Especially after walking the streets for a few and seeing how many people were out and about. It was definitely a little bit of a tight squeeze during certain times when we were inside, but there's so much history & whatnot to read. There were real artifacts from Johnny Cash's life, as well as exact replicas from that time, so we could see what it was like. Everything is clearly labeled, everything was so clean, it was a delightful & excellent learning adventure about his life. Our favorite part was the long video in the room with seating so we could see a snippet of all the different roles he acted in, which I didn't know he did (my personal favorite, when he hosted SNL). We loved visiting, and I would recommend it to anyone who has even a bit of interest in Johnny Cash.

I like Johnny Cash's music but I'm not a hard core fan and pretty much everything I know about him aside from his major songs is from that movie that came out 15 or so years ago. The museum is on the expensive side (about $25 which is the same price as the entire Country Music Hall of Fame) and isn't a huge place. They have a good deal of memorabilia and do a good job of putting everything into context for those of us who weren't even alive for many of Johnny's famous moments, instead of just having a bunch of stuff randomly in cases. It will take an hour or so to see everything and take your time to see the videos too. They're worth a look. Who knew the man in black once hosted SNL? I didn't do the Patsy Cline museum but you get a discount there if you also see the Cash museum. To me they should both be included for the price. If you're a Johnny Cash fan or even just like his music this place is worth checking out and it's worth the price.

I still remember the shivering cold walking through downtown Nashville on Christmas weekend, it was actually reminiscent of downtown Chicago. But it was a great museum, just because it was Cash and I give them credit for being open on a day when a lot of businesses shut down for the day. There were so many awesome artifacts such as guitars, family furniture, army discharge papers, Bibles, and plenty of Cash recordings to listen to. They even had a producer's exhibit where you can adjust the volume on different songs, messing with the vocals and the instruments to create the sound you want. Of course my headphones weren't working, which was pretty disappointing because I am a big fan of interactive museums. And I know nothing about producing music, but this was my opportunity to give it a try!

This is a must see for any Johnny Cash fans visiting Nashville! Not too pricy, tons of things to see, and loved the gift shop! Spent a good hour exploring the collection and we even bought a few prints to take back home to mom!

Expensive but they did a good job filling the museum with relevant and interesting material. Everyone was super nice and helpful and knew their Cash history. Not a "must see" but good supplement to the hall of fame tour.

If you are not a Johnny Cash fan now you will be after a tour through his museum. First things first-parking. Use the link on the museum website to locate and prepay affordable offsite parking once you get near Broadway. Uber/Lyft are optimal but we drove in to town. You can purchase tickets in advance, we did not and the wait was very short. Masks are worn by employees and optional for guests. The viewing areas can be very crowded. My best advice is take your time and enjoy the three filming areas of the museum in between viewing the memorabilia. Johnny's iconic performances are the star of this venue. The museum can be viewed in an hour or so and while it is small it's a must see while in Nashville. You will learn why the "Man in Black" is one of the most awarded country singers ever.