Trent Reznor on first hearing Johnny Cash's Hurt

20 years ago today, we lost The Man In Black, Johnny Cash.

The country star was one of the genre’s defining stars throughout an uncompromising career.

“Having Johnny Cash, one of the greatest singer-songwriters of all time, want to cover your song, that’s something that matters to me.” Trent Reznor shared with British tabloid, The Sun in 2008.

“I’d been friends with Rick Rubin for several years,” he said at the time. “He called me to ask how I’d feel if Johnny Cash covered Hurt…I said I’d be very flattered but was given no indication it would actually be recorded. Two weeks went by. Then I got a CD in the post. I listened to it and it was very strange. It was this other person inhabiting my most personal song. I’d known where I was when I wrote it. I know what I was thinking about. I know how I felt. Hearing it was like someone kissing your girlfriend. It felt invasive.”