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Jack Johnson was born May 18, 1975 is an American folk rock singer-songwriter, surfer and musician known for his work in the soft rock and acoustic genres. In 2001, he achieved commercial success after the release of his debut album, Brushfire Fairytales. He has since released four more albums, a number of EPs and surfing movies/soundtracks. He is also known for organizing an annual event, the Kōkua Festival. Notable songs from Johnson's repertoire include "Upside Down"; "Flake"; "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing"; "If I Had Eyes"; "You and Your Heart"; "Taylor"; "Banana Pancakes" and the widely-popular fan favorite, "Better Together".
Jack Johnson was born and raised on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. The son of well-known surfer Jeff Johnson, he took an interest in the sport. He began to learn how to surf at the age of 5. At 17, he became the youngest invitee to make the surfing finals at the Pipeline Masters on Oahu's north shore. One week later, however, his stint as a professional surfer ended when he suffered a surfing accident at the Pipeline that put over 150 stitches in his forehead and knocked a few of his teeth out.
Jack Johnson graduated from Kahuku High School on the North Shore of Oahu. He would later attend the University of California, Santa Barbara and graduate with a degree in film. While Johnson learned the guitar at the age of 14 and started songwriting at the age of 16 , his passion for music grew when he played rhythm guitar for the band Soil (not to be confused with the heavy metal band Soil) in college. Johnson credits his songwriting influences as Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Radiohead, Otis Redding, G. Love and Special Sauce, Ben Harper, Sublime, The Beatles, Bob Marley, Neil Young, and A Tribe Called Quest.
Jack Johnson's big break was writing and contributing vocals for the song "Rodeo Clowns" which was featured on G. Love's 1999 album 'Philadelphonic'. The song would later become the first single off the album.
Johnson's surfer friends began circulating his music. Soon the music has reached the south of France, Australia, and South Africa.
Johnson's contribution to the entertainment industry is not limited to music. Johnson directed "Thicker Than Water" (a surf documentary released in 2000) and "The September Sessions" (a surf film released in 2002) which he also starred in. Both movie soundtracks were also products of Johnson. Johnson also starred in the 2004 surf film A Brokedown Melody. He has remained active in both.
Johnson released a four track demo that caught the attention of Ben Harper's producer, J. P. Plunier, who worked with Johnson on his debut album Brushfire Fairytales in early 2001 with Harper and his Weissenborn lap steel guitar making a guest appearance. Brushfire Fairytales was released on February 1, 2001.
Johnson went back into the studio with Adam Topol (drums, percussion) and Merlo Podlewski (bass), who played on Brushfire Fairytales, and Mario Caldato Jr on production duties, to record his second full-length album On and On. It was the first album to be recorded at Johnson's Mango Tree Studio in Johnson's home town of North Shore, Oahu, and the first to be released through The Moonshine Conspiracy Records. On and On was released on May 6, 2003.
In October 2004, Johnson returned to the Mango Tree Studio with Topol and Podlewski along with Zach Gill (of Animal Liberation Orchestra) playing accordion, melodica and piano, to record his follow-up to 2003's On and On. In Between Dreams was released on March 1, 2005.
Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George is a soundtrack album by Johnson, released on February 7, 2006. The album also features Adam Topol, Ben Harper, G. Love, Kawika Kahiapo, Matt Costa, Merlo Podlewski and Zach Gill. It was the first soundtrack to make it to number 1 since the Bad Boys II soundtrack in August 2003 and was the first soundtrack for an animated film to top the Billboard 200 since the Pocahontas soundtrack in July 1995.
Johnson enlisted J.P. Plunier to produce his fourth full-length studio album, Sleep Through the Static. It was recorded using 100% solar energy at the Solar-Powered Plastic Plant studio in Los Angeles. The album featured Gill (keys), Podlewski (bass) and Topol (drums, percussion). Sleep Through the Static was released on February 1, 2008 and was followed by a world tour.
A live album and DVD of Johnson's 2008 world tour, entitled En Concert, was released on October 27, 2009. The DVD was directed by Emmett Malloy.
Johnson also participated, with Willie Nelson, Jackson Browne, Dave Matthews, Eddie Vedder and others, in the documentary Kokua 2008: 5 Years of Change (2009), produced by Brushfire and Three Foot Giant Productions and shown on Sundance Channel.
Johnson produced Animal Liberation Orchestra's fifth studio album, Man of the World, which was released February 9, 2010. The album also features vocals from Johnson.
On 1 February 2010, Johnson's official website announced that his fifth studio album, To the Sea, was in the recording process at the Mango Tree Studio, with a planned worldwide release during the first week of June 2010. The website also announced an accompanying European, Australian and New Zealand tour to coincide with the album's release on midnight 31 May.
The first single from his To the Sea album is "You and Your Heart", released on April 6, 2010.
While speaking with New Zealand radio station ZM, Johnson said he is constantly aiming to build relationships with local pro-environment, non-profit groups. "We try to raise money for a lot of these groups who are doing positive things in the community. We try to focus mostly on environmental education, just trying to get kids out into nature, supporting local farms and things like that."
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