Who is deana carters mother

Is Deana Carter related to June Carter?

Introduction

Many people consider June Carter to be country music royalty. 

As she would be called after her marriage to the legendary musician Johnny Cash, June Carter-Cash had a distinguished career as a singer, actress, and writer. 

Deana Carter has had plenty of success on the country music scene and continues to perform still. 

But can she claim any relation to June Carter-Cash and her distinguished country music pedigree? 

Read on to explore the biographies of these two extraordinary women.

Who was June Carter?

June Carter Cash was born June 23, 1929, in Maces Spring, Virginia. 

Her original name was Valerie June Carter, and her parents were Ezra and Maybelle Carter. 

June and her sisters, Anita and Helen, performed together as The Carter Sisters. 

During this time, Jun married her first husband, Carl Smith, and the couple had a daughter named Rebecca. However, the couple soon divorced, and June continued her career, touring and performing with some of the most famous artists of her day, including Elvis Presley. 

June studied at The Actor’s Studio in New York in the 1950s. 

She used her formal training as a springboard into television and movies. 

Her penchant for comedy served her well throughout her acting career, and June did well in front of the camera. 

She landed a role on Gunsmoke in 1957 and continued to act in television and movies through the 1990s. 

She played a role in the famous series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman from 1993 to 1997 and was opposite Robert Duvall in The Apostle in 1998. 

However, music remained her true calling, and June recommitted to her roots in the 1960s, performing with her sisters and mother. During this time, she met and performed with country music legend Johnny Cash.

The two were destined to fall in love, and the couple wed on March 1, 1968. 

Two years later, June gave birth to a son named John Carter Cash, who would have a prominent career in country music himself. 

June continued to sing and perform; however, her star power could never compete with her famous husband’s super-stardom. 

Nevertheless, she supported him at every turn, appearing in many of his videos, tv specials, and live performances. 

Although Johnny Cash was the headliner, June impressed audiences with her comedic appeal, which had helped her on stage since she was young. 

Indeed, she always felt that her musical talents lagged behind those of her other family members, so she used her comedy to carve out her own unique role. 

June’s talent and creativity eventually found a way into the limelight, and she came out of retirement to put out the album Press On in 1999, at the age of 70. 

The album was very well received and garnered her the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album in 2000.

June’s talents were unleashed, and she moved forward to release Wildwood Flower. 

Unfortunately, she and her beloved husband Johnny passed away in 2003, a few short months before the album was released. However, her music was a success. 

She won the 2004 Grammy Awards for Best Traditional Folk Album and Best Female Country Vocal Performance posthumously. 

The passing of June Carter-Cash and her husband Johnny just four months later captured filmmakers’ imaginations. 

Reese Witherspoon earned an Academy Award for her performance as June in the 2005 movie Walk the Line.

Who is Deanna Carter?

On January 4, 1966, Deanna Carter was born in Nashville, Tennessee. 

Her parents were Fred and Anna Carter. 

Her father was a well-known studio musician whose services were in high demand for many years. He worked with Roy Orbison, Simon and Garfunkel, and Bob Dylan, among many others. He named Deanna after Dean Martin, one of his heroes and arguably the most famous American singers of the mid-20th century. 

Deanna’s path to stardom was not as direct as June Carter’s. 

After early setbacks, Deanna went to the University of Tennessee and earned a degree in rehabilitation therapy. 

As she attended school, Deanna would sing at campus events for the love of music, not because she planned to launch a career. 

Indeed, after she graduated, she started a job caring for stroke patients. 

However, Deanna’s enthusiasm for her rehabilitation career waned, and she returned to music after a few years. 

In 1994, country music royal Willie Nelson heard one of Deanna’s demos and invited her to perform at the Farm Aid VII concert. 

She signed a deal with Capitol Records, a relationship that would prove to be a stormy, on again-off again affair. 

Deanna’s breakthrough came in 1996 with the American release of her debut album, Did I Shave My Legs for This?  The first single, “Strawberry Wine,” proved immensely popular and preceded two other No. 1 hits in “How Do I Get There” and “We Danced Anyway.” 

Her exploding popularity landed her on the soundtrack of the 1997 animated feature Anastasia, for which she performed a version of “Once Upon a December” to wide acclaim. 

Like June Carter-Cash, Deanna Carter has had several partners in her personal life. 

She had a son with Chris Hicky, a music video director.  His name is Gray Hayes Hickey, and he was born in September of 2004. 

In 2009, Deanna married Brandon Malone but filed for divorce in 2012. 

Finally, on July 6, 2018, Deanna married Jim McPhail, to whom she remains married.

READ MORE: Are Josh Frost and Lane Frost related?

Are Deanna Carter and June Carter related?

Both June Carter-Cash and Deanna Carter have found success in country music. 

They were both born into famous families that provided them the upbringing, support, and natural talent to pursue successful careers in music. But they are not related. 

There have been persistent rumors that Deana is June’s niece or stepdaughter. Still, nobody has presented any evidence to that effect.

Furthermore, Deanna has never taken the rumors seriously enough to issue a formal statement on the matter. 

Their common surname is nothing more than coincidence. 

As unlikely as it may be for two country music stars to have the same family name and not be related, Deanna and June Carter share no familial connection.

READ THIS NEXT: Is Sam Burns related to Arnold Palmer?