Who is Jack Johnson? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Jack Johnson

Age: 49 Years, 49 Year Old Males

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Kim Johnson (m. 2000)

father: Jeff Johnson

mother: Patti Johnson

siblings: Pete Johnson, Trent Johnson

Rock Singers American Men

Height: 5'11" (180 cm), 5'11" Males

U.S. State: Hawaii

Founder/Co-Founder: Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation, Kokua Hawai'i Foundation

More Facts

education: University of California, Santa Barbara, Kahuku High & Intermediate School

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Childhood

Jack Hody Johnson was born on 18th May, 1975 in the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. He is the youngest of three siblings and the son of the famous surfer, Jeff Johnson.

Just like his father, Jack took lessons in surfing at the age of five almost spending three to four hours surfing daily. However, surfing wasn’t his only passion as music soon became a big part of Jack’s life.

His elder brother, Trent, was a band member and gradually Jack also took to music. He was drawn towards altering and playing the reverb of the guitar amplifier and eventually taught himself to play the guitar.

Jack prospered at both his talents. However, when he was seventeen he got an invitation for the finals of the ‘Pipeline Masters’. What seemed to be the start of a professional career in surfing sadly came to a halt when he suffered an injury after an accident at the ‘Pipeline’.

The incident was life altering for Jack who was considerably humbled by it and eventually became more humble and down to earth.

Jack graduated from high school only to seek admission in the ‘University of California’ located at Santa Barbara. It was here that he began to write his own songs and often used music as a way to impress his college love, Kim. He earned a B.A. degree in Film Studies at the University in 1997.

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Early Career in Music & Films

Jack got his breakthrough in G. Love’s album ‘Philadelphonic’ in 1999 in which he wrote and provided vocals for the song ‘Rodeo Clowns’. The same year he was cast as an actor in the movie ‘Nice Guys Sleep Alone’.

With enough exposure in the entertainment industry, Jack turned towards direction and went on to direct three surf films. His debut film was a documentary in which he played himself. The film was released in 2000 and was called ‘Thicker Than Water’.

The next few years kept Jack on his toes. With continuous success he was encouraged by J.P. Plunier to record his debut album and in February 2001 his first album ‘Brushfire Fairytales’ was released worldwide.

In 2002, he directed another documentary film titled ‘The September Session’ in which he played the lead role too. Thereafter, he immediately began working on his second studio album ‘On and On’ which hit music stores on 6th May, 2003.

In 2003, he launched his own recording studio ‘Brushfire Records’. In fact, he modelled it to be eco-friendly, comprising of recycable CD packaging, solar power and power-saving air conditioners. By 2004, he released his third documentary film ‘A Brokedown Melody’.

Chart Busting Albums

What followed was a string of success as a musician and vocalist. After appearing on the popular show ‘Saturday Night Live’, Jack began recording for his third album ‘In Between Dreams’, which was launched on 1st March 2005.

On 7th February 2006, he released a soundtrack album called ‘Sing-A-Long and Lullabies for the Film Curious George’, which became the number one selling children’s album topping the ‘US Billboard 200’ music chart.

Creating history in the recording world, Jack began working on his fourth album ‘Sleep Through the Static’ with the use of hundred percent solar energy on 1st February, 2008. He followed up the release with a sold out world tour.

In 2009, a DVD containing the live performances of his world tour was released on 27th October. The album was titled ‘En Concert’ and was directed by Emmett Malloy.

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In 2010, he produced the album ‘Man of the World’ by ‘Animal Liberation Orchestra’ and recorded his own fifth studio album ‘To the Sea’. Its first single released on 6th April, 2010 titled ‘You and Your Heart’ and placed number one on ‘US Billboard Triple A’.

He released his album shortly afterward and embarked on a world tour in New Zealand, Europe, Australia, Canada, Japan and USA in collaboration with the Hawaiian vocalist, Paula Fuga.

More Recent Successes

In 2013, he began working on his sixth album ‘From Here to Now to You’. The album released on 17th September, 2013 and garnered critical applause.

For the promotion of his album, Jack was invited to play at the 2013 ‘Bannaroo Music Festival’ held in Tennessee. He played two acoustic concerts later that year at ‘Notting Hill’ and ‘Allen Room at Lincoln Centre’.

In 2014, Jack performed for another world tour from March to September. In 2017, he announced a U.S. tour in the months of June and July and hinted at launching his seventh studio album by the end of 2017.

Major Works

His debut album ‘Brushfire Fairytales’ was labelled a best-selling album and has been certified “Platinum” by the ‘Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)’, the ‘British Phonographic Industry (BPI)’ and the ‘Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA)’.

The album ‘On and On’ ranked at the third spot on ‘US Billboard 200’ and ‘US Internet Albums’. It was certified “4 X Platinum” by ‘ARIA’ and “Platinum” by ‘RIAA’ and ‘BPI’.

His album ‘To The Sea’ is five star rated and is his most critically acclaimed album. It ranked at the number one spot on ‘US Billboard 200’, ‘UK Albums Chart’, ‘New Zealand Albums Chart’, ‘European Top 100 Albums’ and ‘Australian Albums Chart’.

Awards & Achievements

Throughout his career Jack has been nominated and has won several awards. Few of the awards that he won at the start of his career are the ‘ESPN Film Festival Adope Highligh Award’ in 2000 and the ‘ESPN Surfing’s Music Artist of the Year’ in 2001 and 2002.

He received two ‘Grammy Award’ nominations in 2006 for ‘Best Male Pop Vocal Performance’ and ‘Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals’. The same year he won the ‘Brit Best International Male Solo Artist Award’.

In 2010, he received the ‘Humanitarian Award’ at the ‘Billboard Touring Awards’ and in 2012 ‘National Wildlife Foundation (NWF)’ awarded him the ‘National Conservation Achievement Award in Communications’.

Personal Life & Legacy

On 22nd July 2000, he married Kim. The couple was later blessed with two boys and a girl. Together with his family he lives on the island of Oahuin, Hawaii.

In 2003, he founded the ‘Kokua Hawaii Foundation’ and raised money for it through his concerts, organising music festivals and generating a fixed revenue from a portion of his record label.

Jack Johnson and his wife created another foundation by the name ‘Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation’ in 2008. It focuses on creating awareness about the environment and spreading education in music and art worldwide.

He has also donated a sum of 50,000 dollars for ‘Hurricane Sandy’, one of the deadliest amongst several hurricanes that struck the United States of America in 2012. He even added links to his official website so others could make contributions.

Jack Johnson Biography