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Anita Carter

Recording Artist · Active 1962–1999 · Maces Spring · Also a musician
Classic Country Folk Revival

Anita Carter was a Virginia-born singer of Carter Family lineage whose work with The Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle, first recording of "Ring of Fire," and Hank Snow / Waylon Jennings duets placed her at the heart of the Carter Family's twentieth-century bridge to mainstream country.

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  • Born Ina Anita Carter on March 31, 1933 in Maces Spring, Virginia; third daughter of Ezra Carter and Maybelle (Addington) Carter of the original Carter Family.
  • Performed with mother Maybelle and sisters Helen and June as The Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle, joining the Grand Ole Opry in 1950 when Anita was 17.
  • Played upright bass, 12-string guitar, and autoharp in addition to singing.
  • First artist to record "Ring of Fire" (written by sister June Carter and Merle Kilgore), before brother-in-law Johnny Cash made it a hit.
  • Scored Top-10 country duets with Hank Snow on "Down the Trail of Achin' Hearts" and "Bluebird Island" (both 1951) and with Waylon Jennings on "I Got You" (1968).
  • Co-wrote (with sisters June and Helen Carter) Johnny Cash's hit "Rosanna's Going Wild."
  • Toured with Elvis Presley early in his career and joined The Johnny Cash Show in 1971; younger sister of June Carter Cash.
  • Suffered for years from rheumatoid arthritis; died July 29, 1999 at age 66 under hospice care at the Hendersonville, TN home of Johnny and June Carter Cash.

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