When two musical legends come together, the moments that follow can resonate long after the final note fades. This was the case when Nick Cave found himself in the studio with Johnny Cash in 2002.
During his appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Aug. 13, the award-winning singer-songwriter shared an intimate account of this pivotal encounter, offering a rare glimpse into what it was like to record with his lifelong hero.
For Cave, this was more than just a session—it was a defining moment in his life and career. “Johnny Cash is my hero,” Cave told host Stephen Colbert, reflecting on how, as a child in Australia, he would sit mesmerised in front of the TV, watching The Johnny Cash Show and absorbing the power of Cash’s voice.
That voice followed The Bad Seeds frontman throughout his life, eventually leading to Cash covering one of Cave’s most iconic songs, “The Mercy Seat.”
But nothing could have prepared Cave for the day he was invited by producer Rick Rubin to sing alongside Cash.
“When I got there quite early at the studio and when he arrived, he was not well at all. He was a sort of terrifying apparition of a man,” Cave recounted, describing his shock at seeing Cash so frail and weakened.
“When he entered the studio, he had something wrong where if he came from light into dark, he couldn’t see, so he was essentially blind walking down these stairs towards me with his hands out like this going, ‘Are you there, Nick? Are you there?’ And I’m looking at him thinking, how is this man going to perform?”
Despite his physical state, Cash’s spirit remained unbreakable. He sat down with Cave and said, “Look, you know, I’ve had the flu, I’ve had laryngitis, I have no voice. I’ve never asked Jesus for anything, but I had to perform with you today.” Cash continued, “Last night I dropped down on my knees and I said, ‘Jesus, I got to sing with Nick. Give me back my voice.'”
What happened next was nothing short of miraculous.
Cave described how Cash, despite being physically depleted, suddenly came to life: “He sat down, this depleted man, and just transformed… literally before my eyes.” Cash, who had feared he might not be able to sing at all, found his voice again. “I woke up this morning, and I’m singing like a bird,” Cash had told Cave, his voice filled with renewed strength.
“And so we sang, we sang this sort of beautiful song together, and we finished the song and there was this sort of dead silence, and Rick Rubin said, ‘Gentlemen, we’re going to have to do that again.’ And I’m like, I’m flat, right? He goes, ‘Nope, Johnny’s flat.’ And I was like, ‘Amateur,'” he joked.
“But the thing that struck me, and it’s kind of stayed with me ever since, is the extraordinary power of music to transform. Here was this man who was close to death, but he could sit down and sing a song, and he was suddenly filled with life. It was like he was no longer sick—he was Johnny Cash again, the man I had idolised my whole life.”
Watch Nick Cave on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert below.
