Born in 1975, Jack Johnson grew up by the North Shore of Oahu, in Hawaii. Following in his father’s footsteps as a well-known surf enthusiast, he learned how to ride waves at the tender age of 5. He appeared to be on his way to becoming a professional surfer, being the youngest person at age 17 to qualify and actually make the finals at the Pipeline Masters tournament in 1992. Just a week later he became involved in a surfing accident that changed his life. Fading in and out of consciousness, he finally managed to make it to shore. He ended up with a broken nose and some missing teeth, and he also received 150 stitches in his forehead. Johnson got an early wakeup call that day, and he learned something about the ocean’s unrelenting power. He continued to surf, but with a different perspective. He finished up his secondary education at Kahuku High School in Hawaii, yet he stayed close to the water. While in the continental United States, he attended college at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB). His passion for music developed while attending UCSB, which would later coincide with receiving his film degree in 1997. His musical inspirations came from rock legends such as Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles, reggae artist Bob Marley, and folk con Bob Dylan. Colliding the two worlds of music and film seemed inevitable for Johnson.
Jack Johnson's Career Highlights
One day while surfing, Johnson met up with Garrett Dutton, also known as G. Love, the lead singer for the band, Special Sauce. Johnson’s first ever recorded song, Rodeo Clowns, appeared on Dutton’s album, Philadelphonic, released in 1999. His film degree talent came in handy the following year when he co-directed a documentary surf film entitled, Thicker than Water. In 2002 he released his first acoustic-rock album, Brushfire Fairytales, which has reached platinum status, selling over a million copies. In December of 2002 he released a short DVD called, September Sessions, another surf documentary; Johnson also costarred in the movie and played an integral role in the movie’s soundtrack. In 2003 he came out with his second LP, On And On. He also appeared in the surf documentary, A Brokedown Melody (2004), and in 2005 he released In Between Dreams, his third album. More famously, Johnson wrote the soundtrack for Bad Boys II, and Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George.
