American IV: The Man Comes Around

American IV: The Man Comes Around is the fourth album in the American series by Johnny Cash (and his 87th overall), released in 2002. This is the last album released before his death in 2003. The majority of songs are covers which Cash performs in his own spare style, with help from producer Rick Rubin. For instance, for the song "Personal Jesus", Rubin asked then-Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante to re-work an acoustic version of Martin Gore's song, which featured a simple acoustic riff that stripped down the song to a blues style. He receives backing vocal assistance from various artists, including Fiona Apple, Nick Cave, and Don Henley. American IV was the final Cash album released during his lifetime; though the Unearthed Box Set was compiled prior to his death, it was not released until two months later. It was also his first non-compilation album to go gold (selling over 500,000 copies) in thirty years. Additionally, the album won "Album of the Year" award at the 2003 CMA Awards. It was certified Gold on 4/24/2003 and Platinum on 11/21/2003 by the R.I.A.A. The video for "Hurt", a song written by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails in 1994, was nominated in seven ca…