Cash Buried Near Nashville

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Sadly, lots of people were dressed in black on Monday — to honor the legendary "Man in Black."

In a noontime service, Johnny Cash (search) was buried in Hendersonville, Tenn., next to his wife, June Carter Cash (search), who passed away less than a year ago.

Cash, 71, died Friday of respiratory failure brought on by complications of diabetes.

No cameras were allowed at the private service, but more than 1,000 mourners, including many of music's biggest names were there to pay their last respects to Cash.

Among the stars who turned out were Hank Williams, Jr., Kid Rock, Vince Gill and his wife Amy Grant, Randy Scruggs, Larry Gatlin and even former vice president Al Gore, a big Cash fan.

The Rev. Franklin Graham — son of Cash's friend, the Rev. Billy Graham, delivered the sermon, calling Cash "a good man who also struggled with many challenges in his life. He was a deeply religious man."

Cash's daughter, singer Rosanne Cash, (search) struck a poignant note about Cash as a performer and a father.

"I can almost live in a world without Johnny Cash because he will always be with us," she said. "I cannot begin to imagine a world without Daddy."

Artists scheduled to perform during the service included Sheryl Crow, Kris Kristofferson, who wrote the 1970 hit "Sunday Morning Coming Down" for Cash, and Emmylou Harris.

Kristofferson called Cash "Abraham Lincoln with a wild side" — a man always willing to champion the voiceless and downtrodden, "whose work in life has been an inspiration and salvation to so many people around the world."

Cash said in his self-titled 1997 autobiography that he tried to speak for "voices that were ignored or even suppressed in the entertainment media, not to mention the political and educational establishments."

Some of his most well-known performances were at Folsom Prison and San Quentin prison, both in California.

Cash, who won 11 Grammy Awards, was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame (search) in 1980 and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. The late 1960s and '70s were Cash's peak commercial years, and he was host of his own ABC variety show from 1969-71.

Cash was a peer of Elvis Presley (search) when he began recording in Memphis in the 1950s on the famed Sun Records label. His biggest hits include "I Walk the Line" and "Boy Named Sue."

Recently, the singer gained popularity among the MTV generation with his version of the Nine Inch Nails song "Hurt." The song's video was a searing look back at Cash's life.

But Cash will be remembered by many music fans as an artist who crossed over -- and influenced -- many genres of music from country and fold to rock 'n' roll and pop.

Fox News' Bill McCuddy and Marla Lehner and the Associated Press contributed to this report.