Daniel Johnston

For other people named Daniel Johnston, see Daniel Johnston (disambiguation).

Daniel Johnston
Johnston performing in 2012
Johnston performing in 2012
Background information
Birth nameDaniel Dale Johnston
Born(1961-01-22)January 22, 1961[1]
Sacramento, California, U.S.
OriginNew Cumberland, West Virginia, U.S.
Diedc. September 11, 2019(2019-09-11) (aged 58)
Waller, Texas, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • singer-songwriter
  • visual artist
Instruments
Years active1978–2019
Labels
Websitehihowareyou.com

Daniel Dale Johnston (January 22, 1961 – c. September 11, 2019) was an American singer, musician and artist regarded as a significant figure in outsider, lo-fi, and alternative music scenes.[2][3] Most of his work consisted of cassettes recorded alone in his home,[6] and his music was frequently cited for its "pure" and "childlike" qualities.[7]

Johnston spent extended periods in psychiatric institutions[6] and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.[8][2] He garnered a local following in the 1980s by passing out tapes of his music while working at a McDonald's in Dobie Center in Austin, Texas.[9][10] His cult status was propelled when Nirvana's Kurt Cobain was seen wearing a T-shirt that featured the artpiece "Jeremiah the Innocent"[11] from Johnston's 1983 cassette album Hi, How Are You.[6]

Johnston also created visual art, and his illustrations were exhibited at galleries around the world. His struggles with mental illness were the subject of the 2005 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. He died in 2019 of a suspected heart attack.[12]

  1. ^ Sweeting, Adam (September 12, 2019). "Daniel Johnston obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Dougan, John. "Daniel Johnston". AllMusic. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference dazed-123 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Grow, Kory (September 11, 2019). "Daniel Johnston, Cult Singer-Songwriter, Dead at 58". Rolling Stone.
  5. ^ Spin Staff (June 12, 2012). "Daniel Johnston and Supreme Join Forces for T-Shirt Line". Spin Magazine.
  6. ^ a b c D'Angelo, Mike (December 5, 2013). "Is Daniel Johnston a great musician or a victim of hipster exploitation?". The A.V. Club.
  7. ^ McNamee, David (August 10, 2009). "The myth of Daniel Johnston's genius". The Guardian.
  8. ^ Brook, Pete (March 2012). "PHOTOGRAPHER SHOWS A DIFFERENT SIDE OF DANIEL JOHNSTON". Wired.
  9. ^ "Spotlight: Daniel Johnston". Austinchronicle.com. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  10. ^ Hall, Michael (February 2005). "He's Daniel Johnston, And He Was Gonna Be Famous". Texas Monthly.
  11. ^ Starkey, Arun (September 11, 2021). "How Kurt Cobain launched the career of Daniel Johnston with a T-shirt". Far Out Magazine. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  12. ^ Grow, Kory (September 11, 2019). "Daniel Johnston, Cult Singer-Songwriter, Dead at 58". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 13, 2019.