Johnny Cash Museum Gives Rare Glimpse Into His Personal Life

The long-awaited Johnny Cash museum is finally open in Nashville, and no one is happier than the museum's owner and curator, Bill Miller, who personally collected the wide array of artifacts currently on display.

"What we try to do is show people things that they'd probably never see at any other museum or any other place," he explains to CMT Edge. "It's really been a major journey collecting all this stuff and putting it all together. There was a point when I had so much stuff, and I said, 'Do I have too little? Do I have too much? Will it all tie together?' Then you start going through things you've had 30-40 years, and you go, 'It's working!'"

The museum boasts a diverse collection of pictures, clothing, song lyrics, awards and documents, including his marriage certificate to June Carter Cash from March 1, 1968. But one item that is surprisingly not on display is the famed photograph of the Man in Black giving the middle finger to a camera.

"He didn't like that picture even though the estate licensed it," Miller explains. "He told me he didn't like it, so out of respect, that picture won't be in here."

The museum also houses a small theater that shows clips of Cash's film career, as well as posters, costumes and instruments used for his various movie and TV roles.

The Johnny Cash Museum is located at 119 Third Avenue South in Nashville. For ticket information, or to see photos of some of the exhibits, click here.