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Daniel Johnston
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. Most of his work consisted of cassettes recorded alone in his home, and his music was frequently cited for its "pure" and "childlike" qualities.
Johnston spent extended periods in psychiatric institutions and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. 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. His cult status was propelled when Nirvana's Kurt Cobain was seen wearing a T-shirt that featured the artpiece "Jeremiah the Innocent" from Johnston's 1983 cassette album Hi, How Are You.
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.
Johnston was born in Sacramento, California, and grew up in New Cumberland, West Virginia. He was the youngest of five children of William Dale "Bill" Johnston (1922–2017) and Mabel Ruth Voyles Johnston (1923–2010). He began recording music in the late 1970s on a $59 Sanyo monaural boombox, singing and playing piano as well as the chord organ.
Following graduation from Oak Glen High School, Johnston spent a few weeks at Abilene Christian University in West Texas before dropping out. He later attended the art program at Kent State University, East Liverpool, during which he recorded Songs of Pain and More Songs of Pain.
In 1984, Johnston took a job at McDonald's and passed out tapes in the store. Later, Johnston moved to Austin, Texas with a traveling carnival, working at a corn dog stand. He began to attract the attention of the local press and gained a following, augmented in numbers by his habit of handing out tapes to people he met. Live performances were well-attended and hotly anticipated.
His local standing led to him being featured in a 1985 episode of the MTV program The Cutting Edge featuring performers from Austin's "new sincerity" music scene.
In 1988, Johnston visited New York City and recorded 1990 with producer Mark Kramer at his Noise New York studio. It was Johnston's first experience in a professional recording environment after a decade of releasing home-made cassette recordings. His mental health deteriorated during the making of 1990. In 1989, he released the album It's Spooky in collaboration with singer Jad Fair of the band Half Japanese.
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Daniel Johnston
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. Most of his work consisted of cassettes recorded alone in his home, and his music was frequently cited for its "pure" and "childlike" qualities.
Johnston spent extended periods in psychiatric institutions and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. 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. His cult status was propelled when Nirvana's Kurt Cobain was seen wearing a T-shirt that featured the artpiece "Jeremiah the Innocent" from Johnston's 1983 cassette album Hi, How Are You.
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.
Johnston was born in Sacramento, California, and grew up in New Cumberland, West Virginia. He was the youngest of five children of William Dale "Bill" Johnston (1922–2017) and Mabel Ruth Voyles Johnston (1923–2010). He began recording music in the late 1970s on a $59 Sanyo monaural boombox, singing and playing piano as well as the chord organ.
Following graduation from Oak Glen High School, Johnston spent a few weeks at Abilene Christian University in West Texas before dropping out. He later attended the art program at Kent State University, East Liverpool, during which he recorded Songs of Pain and More Songs of Pain.
In 1984, Johnston took a job at McDonald's and passed out tapes in the store. Later, Johnston moved to Austin, Texas with a traveling carnival, working at a corn dog stand. He began to attract the attention of the local press and gained a following, augmented in numbers by his habit of handing out tapes to people he met. Live performances were well-attended and hotly anticipated.
His local standing led to him being featured in a 1985 episode of the MTV program The Cutting Edge featuring performers from Austin's "new sincerity" music scene.
In 1988, Johnston visited New York City and recorded 1990 with producer Mark Kramer at his Noise New York studio. It was Johnston's first experience in a professional recording environment after a decade of releasing home-made cassette recordings. His mental health deteriorated during the making of 1990. In 1989, he released the album It's Spooky in collaboration with singer Jad Fair of the band Half Japanese.