On Thursday, Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Ga., was declared winner after winning Apple's iTunes Countdown to 10 Billion Songs contest with the purchase of Johnny Cash's "Guess Things Happen That Way". This also means the song is the 10 billionth song downloaded from Apple's Store using iTunes.

He was awarded a gift card for music worth $10,000.

Apple had announced the contest earlier this month and started the countdown as the number of songs downloaded from its store got closer to the 10 billion landmark. The company had begun selling music in 2003, and, on an average, about 1.4 billion songs were downloaded each year. So far, it has become the biggest online music vendor.

It is surprising that during the time of the contest, Johnny Cash's songs were never among those topping the popular purchased list.

Mr. Sulcer, a 71-year-old retired Real estate broker, said in an interview that he learned about his achievement when Steve Jobs, the Chief Executive of Apple, called on Wednesday night.

Mr. Sulcer said he did not have much time to mull over about how he would spend the winning amount. But he expects that his three children and nine grandchildren would most likely benefit. "I don't think I'll have to worry about buying birthday and Christmas presents anytime soon".