[1] Although Cash is often classified as a country artist, her music draws from many genres, including folk, pop, rock, blues, and, most notably, Americana.

In the 1980s, she had a string of genre-crossing singles that entered both the country and pop charts, the most commercially successful being her 1981 breakthrough hit "Seven Year Ache".

She has continued to write, record, and perform, having since released six albums, written three books, and edited a collection of short stories.

Vivian attracted attention as Johnny Cash became a star because some observers believed her appearance reflected African-American ancestry, and interracial marriage was illegal in the South.

With Johnny Cash's increasing success in country music, in 1958 he moved the family from Memphis to California, first to Los Angeles.

After graduating from St. Bonaventure High School about 1973,[11] Rosanne Cash joined her father's road show for two and a half years.

That same year, she briefly worked for CBS Records in London before returning to Nashville to study English and drama at Vanderbilt University.

"Her brutally dark take on intimate relationships was reflected throughout and made clear the marital problems that had been hinted at on earlier albums.

"[12] "Highly autobiographical (though Cash has often insisted it is not quite as true to life as everyone assumes), Interiors was a brilliant, introspective album"[21] and "her masterpiece".

[16] The Wheel, released in 1993, was "an unflinchingly confessional examination of the marriage's failure that ranked as her most musically diverse effort to date".

She also pursued a career as a writer and in 1996 Hyperion published the short story collection Bodies of Water to favorable reviews.

The album had guest appearances by Sheryl Crow and Steve Earle, a song co-written by Joe Henry and Jakob Dylan, and the poignant "September When It Comes," a duet with her father Johnny Cash.

[26] The album was critically praised, and named to the Top 10 lists of The New York Times,[27] Billboard,[28] PopMatters,[29] NPR[30] and other general interest and music publications.

[34] In late 2007, Cash underwent brain surgery for a rare condition (Chiari I malformation) and was forced to cancel her remaining concert dates.

The album features vocal duets with Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Jeff Tweedy, and Rufus Wainwright.

[41] In addition to her own recordings, Cash has made guest appearances on albums by Jeff Bridges, Rodney Crowell, Guy Clark, Vince Gill, Lyle Lovett, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Marc Cohn, The Chieftains, John Stewart, Willy Mason, Mike Doughty, Black 47 and others, as well as children's albums by Larry Kirwan, Tom Chapin, and Dan Zanes and Friends.

She has also appeared on tribute albums to The Band, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Jimi Hendrix, John Hiatt, Kris Kristofferson, Laura Nyro, Yoko Ono, Doc Pomus, and Tammy Wynette.

In April 2012, she released the song "Land of Dreams"; it was used by Brand USA in video advertisements and online as part of a global tourism campaign.

[46] Cash sang the part of Monique on the 2013 album Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, a collaboration between rock singer John Mellencamp and novelist Stephen King.

[50] The River & the Thread is a collection of songs written with husband and collaborator John Leventhal, inspired by trips through the American South.

The journey included visits to father Johnny Cash's childhood home in Dyess, Arkansas; her own early childhood home in Memphis, Tennessee; William Faulkner's house; Dockery Plantation in Cleveland, Mississippi; the plantation where Howlin' Wolf and Charley Patton worked and sang; Natchez, Mississippi; the blues trail; and the Tallahatchie Bridge.

[51] Throughout 2014, Cash toured extensively with partner John Leventhal, performing The River & The Thread together with first-person stories woven through historical time, to much critical acclaim.

[52] The River & The Thread was the Number One album of 2014 on Americana radio, and was honored by USA Today, The New York Times, The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, The Huffington Post, NPR Fresh Air, Uncut (magazine), No Depression, The Sun (UK), and American Songwriter as one of the top albums of 2014.

[58] In February 2021, Cash appeared as a guest on Finding Your Roots, the PBS TV series hosted by historian Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Among what was learned about her ancestors, genealogists discovered that one of Cash's 16 maternal great-great-great-grandmothers, Sarah A. Shields, was a mixed-race woman born into slavery in South Carolina, who later lived with her parents and sibings in Alabama.

Sarah and her eight mixed-race siblings were all freed in 1848 by their white father, Irish-American planter William Shields, who gained the required act of the Alabama state legislature to achieve this.

Gates found that Cash and actress Angela Bassett are distant relatives through shared DNA from a common African-American ancestor.

[62] Cash is a frequent guest teacher at the English and Songwriting programs of various colleges and universities including LeMoyne,[63] Fairleigh-Dickinson[64] and NYU.

[citation needed] Cash is a dedicated supporter of artists' rights in the digital age and sits on the board of the Content Creators Coalition.

On June 25, 2014, Cash testified before The House of Representatives, Judiciary Committee on intellectual property rights and Internet music licensing.