Ring of Fire is a song written by the American singer-songwriters June Carter and Merle Kilgore. It was originally recorded as “(Love’s) Ring of Fire” by June’s sister, Anita Carter, on her 1962 album Folk Songs Old and New. It was popularized by Carter’s husband, the country singer Johnny Cash, after it appeared on his 1963 compilation album Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash.
Cash’s version became one of his biggest hits, staying at No. 1 on the country chart for seven weeks. It was certified gold by the RIAA on January 21, 2010, and has sold over 1.2 million downloads. It was named the fourth-greatest country song by Country Music Television, while Rolling Stone called it the greatest country song and the 87th-greatest song of all time. In 1999, Cash’s version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Interested in learning this Johnny Cash song? First online lesson’s free!
you can see how the melody can be pulled out of the C and G chords in the first part of the song. Pretty straightforward, but when we get the the “I fell”, start on D and pluck D, then F# then shift to the 5th position for the “In to the”. That gives us D, F# and A. Then simply slide down to C in the 3rd position for “burnin’ ring of”. the. “Fi” and “er” – two syllables, E and D respectively (pinkie and first finger)