Ana Cristina Cash ( Álvarez; 2 June 1985) is a

Cuban-American Cuban Americans ( or ) are Americans who immigrated from or are descended from immigrants from Cuba. As of 2023, Cuban Americans were the fourth largest Hispanic and Latino Americans, Hispanic and Latino American group in the United States aft ...

singer-songwriter.

Early life and career beginnings

Ana Cristina Cash was born on 2 June 1985, in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

and is of

descent with ancestry from

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

via her paternal grandmother whose parents both migrated to Cuba from

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Her father, Rene Álvarez, an engineer who founded and runs an air conditioner company, and her mother, Teresita Álvarez, migrated to the United States from

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

in the early 1960s to escape Fidel Castro's Communist regime. She is the youngest of three sisters. As a child she tried out for the variety show ''

Sabado Gigante In a vast number of languages, the names given to the seven days of the week are derived from the names of the classical planets in Hellenistic astronomy, which were in turn named after contemporary deities, a system introduced by the Sumeri ...

'' on the

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the L ...

network and landed a spot, where she went on to appear frequently between ages six and 13, becoming a champion of the show's singing contests. In middle school she would be pulled from her Catholic school classes to sing at events like weddings and funerals. Cash signed her first record deal, with

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

, at age 15. She attended high school at

Gulliver Preparatory School Gulliver Preparatory School or simply Gulliver Prep, is a private co-educational school. Its management offices are in Kendall, Florida, a census-designated place in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Its previous administrative offices were in Coral ...

in Miami, graduating in 2003, and went on to earn a bachelor's degree in journalism from

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...

and a master's degree in creative writing from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

First recordings and early career

Her debut Spanish-language album as Ana Cristina with Sony Music's Latin division, titled ''Ana Cristina'', was released in 2003. It included the single, "A Un Paso De Mi Amor," which had been featured the previous year on the soundtrack of

Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. It provides content ...

Network's telenovela ''Vale Todo''. Another song from the album, ''¡Vivan los niños!'', was a closing theme of

Televisa Grupo Televisa, S.A.B., simply known as Televisa, is a Mexican telecommunications and broadcasting company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April ...

Network's 2002 telenovela ''¡Vivan los niños!''. In 2004, Cash was selected to participate as a songwriter and performer in Festival Mundial De La Cancion ("World Festival of Song") in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as the year's sole representative from the United States, competing with her song "Cuando Menos Lo Esperas." Cash's recording of Schubert's "Ave Maria" was part of ''Nuestra Navidad'', a 2005

Christmas compilation album that also included

Jon Secada Juan Francisco Secada Ramírez (born October 4, 1961), better known as Jon Secada, is a Cuban-born American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. He has won two Grammy Awards and sold 15 million records, making him one of the best-se ...

Celia Cruz Celia Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a Cuban singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during the 1950s as a singer of , earning the nickna ...

José Feliciano José Montserrate Feliciano García (; born September 10, 1945) is a Puerto Rican musician. He recorded many international hits, including his rendition of the Doors' " Light My Fire" and his self-penned Christmas song "". Music genres he explo ...

and others. On 20 January 2005 she sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Constitutional Ball, part of the

Second inauguration of George W. Bush The second inauguration of George W. Bush as president of the United States took place on Thursday, January 20, 2005, at the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 55th inauguration and marked the beginning of ...

. Later that year she performed at Festival de Calle Ocho (Calle Ocho Music Festival) in Miami. The following year she performed at the White House as a part of the celebration for Hispanic Heritage Month. Also in 2006, she released the single "You Can Change the World" as a duet with MichelAngelo.

used the song's bilingual counterpart, "El Mundo Puedes Cambiar," as its theme song for its

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

World Cup Germany 2006 coverage. On 5 January 2009 she released on her own label her album ''Time'', containing all original material, with six tracks in English and three in Spanish, produced by Randy Barlow.

Career 2010s to present

In 2014 she recorded in Los Angeles her first English-language album, the pop/soul ''The West Coast Sessions'', produced by Chris Price, in Los Angeles. That year she moved to Nashville. She released the album in 2015. That year she performed with

John Carter Cash John Carter Cash (born March 3, 1970) is an American country singer-songwriter, musician and author. He is the only child of Johnny Cash and his second wife June Carter Cash. He is the grandson of Mother Maybelle Carter. Biography John has ...

at the Country Music Hall of Fame's album release concert for the Dylan, Cash, and the Nashville Cats ''A New Music City'' album. After her 2016 marriage to

she began releasing music under the name Ana Cristina Cash, beginning with the country/Americana/rockabilly release ''The Tough Love EP'' in 2017, recorded at the Cash Cabin studio in Tennessee with material co-written and -produced with John Carter Cash. She performed at the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

's 20th Anniversary Music Master concert tribute to Johnny Cash on 21 October 2016. She recorded a full-length holiday album, ''My Christmas Collection'', at the Cash Cabin studio. It was released in 2018. That year she provided guest vocals on heavy metal band

DevilDriver DevilDriver is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara, California, formed in 2002, consisting of vocalist Dez Fafara, bassist Jon Miller, guitarist Alex Lee and drummer Davier Pérez. The b ...

's cover of "Ghost Riders in the Sky" and performed at the Johnny Cash Heritage Festival. On 1 April 2019 she was a part of the

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "Hey Loretta", "The Pill (song), The P ...

birthday tribute show at the

Bridgestone Arena Bridgestone Arena (originally Nashville Arena, and formerly Gaylord Entertainment Center and Sommet Center) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Completed in 1996, it is the home of the Nashville Predat ...

in Nashville, and later that year she performed at YouTube's "Cash Fest" concert honoring Johnny Cash. On 9 November 2019 she made her

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

debut performing her original material. Mayor Jamie Clary of Hendersonville, Tennessee, declared 9 November "Ana Cristina Cash Day." In 2019 a Spanish-language adaptation of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" co-written by Ana Cristina Cash was recorded by

Los Tigres Del Norte Los Tigres del Norte (English: ''The Tigers of the North'') are a norteño band from San Jose, California. Originally founded in the small town Rosa Morada in the municipality of Mocorito, Sinaloa, Mexico, with sales of 32 million albums, the ...

for their prison documentary ''

Los Tigres del Norte at Folsom Prison ''Los Tigres del Norte at Folsom Prison'' is a 2019 documentary directed by Tom Donahue and starring Los Tigres del Norte. The premise revolves around Los Tigres del Norte performing at Folsom State Prison in California, USA fifty years after Jo ...

'' and the accompanying

Latin Grammy The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...

-winning album. She released another holiday-themed recording, a single of "Mele Kalikimaka," during the COVID-19 quarantine in 2020. Her first full-length album as Ana Cristina Cash, ''Shine'', was released on 24 April 2020. She wrote the songs in collaboration with John Carter Cash and others, drawing from blues, rock, country and Americana. Recorded at the Cash Cabin studio, it premiered at Billboard.com and includes the track "Brand New Pair Of Shoes" with lyrics by

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

that had never before been set to music. The same track was later included on an expanded edition of ''Forever Words'', a Legacy Records album of poems and lyrics by Johnny Cash set to music by artists including

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

Chris Cornell Christopher John Cornell ( Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017) was an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and the primary lyricist for the rock music, rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave. He also had a ...

and Jewel. She is a graduate of Nashville's 2020 Leadership Music Class.

Awards and honors

2019: Winner, Wildbunch Film Festival Best Actress Award for Short Film "Dragon Song" as Veronica Shamblings 2011: Winner, Miss South Florida USA 2004: Norminated, Premio Lo Nuestro "Revelacion del Ano (Best New Artist of the Year)"

Personal life

Cash married music producer

on October 29, 2016, in Charleston, South Carolina in the French Huguenot Church. Her husband is the only child of musicians

and

June Carter Cash Valerie June Carter Cash (June 23, 1929 – May 15, 2003) was an American country singer and songwriter. A five-time Grammy Award–winner, she was a member of the Carter Family and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash. Prior to her marria ...

and grandson of the

Carter Family The Carter Family was an American folk music group that recorded and performed between 1927 and 1956. Regarded as one of the most important music acts of the early 20th century, they had a profound influence on the development of bluegrass, c ...

original member

Maybelle Carter "Mother" Maybelle Carter (born Maybelle Addington; May 10, 1909 – October 23, 1978) was an American country musician and "among the first" to use the Carter scratch, with which she "helped to turn the guitar into a lead instrument." It ...

. They live with their two children in Nashville where they co-own and operate Cash Cabin Enterprises, a private recording studio.

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cash, Ana Cristina Living people 1985 births American women singer-songwriters American musicians of Cuban descent American people of Asturian descent Florida International University alumni Harvard University alumni