“Ring Of Fire” by Johnny Cash

June Carter and Merle Kilgore wrote "Ring of Fire", and June's sister Anita Carter cut it first in 1962, but it was Johnny Cash who made it his own, the future husband singing the song the woman he'd marry had helped write. His version turned up on the 1963 compilation Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash and sat at number one on the country chart for 7 weeks.

Cash delivers it in that granite baritone over a steady, loping beat, and somehow makes the fire sound almost cheerful. Rolling Stone eventually called it the greatest country song ever, and his version entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.