Cash died last year after being ill for several months

The idea had been backed by Merle Kilgore, who co-wrote the song with Cash's wife, June Carter Cash.

Cash's daughter Rosanne said the family "would never allow the song to be demeaned like that". Cash and his wife died in 2003.

Kilgore said he had not intended to upset the family.

He said at first he thought the idea was funny, and he had often joked about haemorrhoids onstage whenever he would introduce Ring of Fire.

But Rosanne Cash told the Nashville-based Tennessean newspaper he had not consulted the family.

Condition

She said: "The song is about the transformative power of love and that's what it has always meant to me and that's what it will always mean to the Cash children."

TV producer Sula Miller, of Big Grin Productions in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, said she had thought of the idea while suffering from the condition.

Johnny Cash, a legend of US country music, died in September aged 71 after complications from diabetes which resulted in respiratory failure.

His rebellious songs and outlaw image have influenced generations of rock artists, from Bob Dylan to U2.