- And with us now is Greg Laurie.

He is the author of a new book out

called "Johnny Cash: TheRedemption of American Icon."

Pastor Laurie, I knowyou're a very busy man,

but apparently, you liketo keep even busier.

You had a biography,or spiritual biography

about Steve McQueen andnow you have this one

about Johnny Cash.

Why are you deciding to write these books?

- Yeah, it's an interesting thing, John.

I didn't set out to writethis book on Johnny.

I set out to tell a storyabout Steve McQueen,

who was the number oneactor of his generation,

because I'd heard hehad become a Christian

toward the end of his life,and after some research

and meeting the people that knew him,

including his widow andhis friends and others,

I thought, "Wow, this is astory that needs to be told."

So after it came out, itwas very well received.

We made a documentaryfilm along with it as well

that you can watch on iTunes.

But anyway, people would ask me,

"Are you gonna do another book

"on some well known iconthat was a Christian?"

And I said, "Well, you know, if I did,

"I would do it on Johnny Cash."

So I have a great helper in myco-author, Marshall Terrill,

who did a lot of research,and so now this book is out,

"Johnny Cash: The Redemptionof an American Icon."

Different from my first book.

That was "Steve McQueen: TheSalvation of an American Icon."

Here's a contrastbetween McQueen and Cash.

McQueen was your basic non-believer

searching for meaning in life,

came to faith toward the end of his life.

Johnny, in contrast, wasraised as a Christian

and believed at an earlyage, but strayed from it

and returned to the Lord later in life.

So Johnny was literallyraised picking cotton

and it was back-breaking,very difficult labor

there in Arkansas.

He had an older brother namedJack he was very close to,

and if people saw the film "Walk the Line"

starting Joaquin Phoenixand Reese Witherspoon,

they'll remember thisaccident his brother had

which resulted in his death,

dramatically impacted Johnny's life

'cause he looked up to his older brother.

Johnny had a very harsh,austere father named Ray,

who actually said after hisson died, Johnny's brother,

he said, "God took the wrong son."

What a thing for a kid to live with.

So Johnny was always trying to measure up.

He was a bit insecure.

But he had this incredible musical talent

and he met Sam Phillips,who was the producer

there at Sun Records who discovered Elvis,

Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins,

and they became known asthe Millionaire Quartet.

So Johnny went off and had a huge career

with songs like "I Walkthe Line," of course,

and "Ring of Fire," "A Boy Named Sue,"

"Folsom Prison Blues," and many others.

But at the peak of his popularity, John,

he had a TV show thatwas a huge national hit

and he used it as aplatform to share his faith

and even had Billy Graham on it

and would sing gospel songs all the time.

But Johnny also had his personal struggles

with amphetamines and other areas,

so his was an up and down life,

but one where he ultimatelydeepened in his faith

and commitment to Christ.

- Pastor, you just talked about his music

and his huge repertoire.

Can you talk about the role of his faith

and how that maybe playeda little bit of a part

for him to resonate withso many different fans?

- Well the reason that Johnnymade it to the age of 71

is because he had that faith.

You know, we've all heardthese rock and roll stories,

going back to Elvis, who diedin his 40s using legal drugs,

but abusing them, and thenjust going through the pantheon

of rock stars and drugs.

Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones.

Fast forward, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse.

Even more recently, ChesterBennington, Chris Cornell.

Just the list goes on.

But because Johnny had faith,

when he hit rock bottom, hewould turn to the Lord again.

And he had to go through rehab.

He was messed up.

But he knew his only hope was Christ.

And so it's interesting

because both musically and spiritually,

Johnny started and finished well.

He was huge in his beginning.

I would say he had a career slump

toward the middle and the end.

He was rediscovered by aproducer named Rick Rubin

who had produced a bunch of rock acts

and he got Johnny recording again,

stripped down without the big giant band

and all the singers, justJohnny and his guitar.

And I'll tell ya,

Johnny Cash and his guitarwas a thing to behold

because no one had that voice like Johnny.

He was called the voice of America.

You know, there was somethingabout the tonality of it

and there was an authenticity there.

People trusted that voice.

It's funny, when Rick Rubin

did a series of records with Johnny

that spanned the last 10 years of his life

that were called American Recordings,

he was discovered by basicallythe baby buster generation,

Generation X.

They thought he was a hero,

like coming out of the pages of history.

They were in awe of himand he had his debut

at a club called The Viper Club in L.A.

owned by Johnny Depp.

So, you know, he sortof had this resurgence

and won MTV awards and so itjust was an incredible thing.

So he started and ended strong

spiritually, musically rather,

and he started and endedstrong spiritually.

As he got older, his health was not good

and his wife, June, would nurse him.

And much to his shock,she died before he did

and it was devastating tohim, but Johnny persisted on.

And an interviewer asked him,

"Well Johnny, has it affected your faith?"

He said, "I have an unshakeable faith."

And so that's reallypresented in this book,

his faith, how his faith sustained him,

how his faith literally savedhim, how Christ saved him,

and if there's hope fora guy like Johnny Cash,

there's hope for everyone.

- And Pastor Greg Laurie,

where can people find your book?

- Well you can order it at Amazon.com,

probably at a bookstore near you.

It's out there now andit's available August 20th.

- Congratulations, PastorLaurie, on your new book.

It's called "Johnny Cash: The Redemption

"of an American Icon."

We wish you much success.

Thanks for being with us.- Thanks.