(CNN) -- He was a poor sharecropper's son from Kingsland, Arkansas, who sang to himself while picking cotton in the fields -- then later sang to millions through recordings, concerts and his late-'60s TV variety show.

He became a country music statesman who found a home with rap-rock producer Rick Rubin's American Recordings.

Johnny Cash -- legend, model, icon -- died Friday. He was 71.

Cash died of complications from diabetes at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, hospital spokeswoman Nicole Bates said. He had just been released Tuesday after entering the hospital August 28 with an undisclosed stomach ailment. He returned to the hospital Thursday.

Cash's wife of 35 years, June Carter Cash, died May 15.

Perhaps the most widely recognized voice in country music, Cash recorded more than 1,500 songs. His career spanned more than four decades with trademark hits like "A Boy Named Sue," "Folsom Prison Blues, "Ring of Fire" and "I Walk the Line."

His success crossed well over onto the pop scene. He had 48 singles on Billboard's pop charts, rivaling both the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys.

His 11 Grammys included a lifetime achievement award and the 1998 Grammy for country album of the year ("Unchained"). It's said that more than 100 other recording artists and groups have recorded "I Walk the Line."

"Johnny Cash was not only a giant in our business, but he was one of those guys who had grown to become a cultural icon in American," Ed Benson, executive director of the Country Music Association, told WTVF-TV in Nashville. "People associated him with values that I think they held near and dear to their hearts."