Which song was co-written by June Carter and Merle Kilgore?

The song co-written by June Carter and Merle Kilgore was “Ring of Fire.” The composition became Johnny Cash’s signature recording, but its story began within the Carter family before Cash recorded it.

June Carter and Merle Kilgore wrote the song in the early 1960s, drawing on the image of love as a burning ring of fire. June’s sister Anita Carter first recorded it as “(Love’s) Ring of Fire” in 1962. Johnny Cash heard the song and later said he imagined it with mariachi-style trumpets, inspired partly by the sound of Herb Alpert’s “The Lonely Bull.”

Cash recorded his version in 1963, with members of the Carter Family providing backing vocals. It became a No. 1 country hit and one of the most recognizable songs in country music. A common mix-up is confusing “Ring of Fire” with “Jackson,” another famous Johnny Cash and June Carter recording; “Jackson” was written by Jerry Leiber and Billy Edd Wheeler. Although authorship has been disputed in later accounts, the established songwriting credit is Carter and Kilgore.