Jack Johnson was born on the 18th of May, 1975 to Jeff and Patti Johnson in North Shore, Hawaii. Due to the availability of surfer beaches and the fact that his father was also a surfer, Jack began surfing as early as 5 years old. He attended Kahuku High School and then completed his education at the University of California in Santa Barbara where he graduated with a B.A in Film Studies.
He maintained his passion for surfing, becoming the youngest surfer ever to make it to the biggest surfing event of all time called Pipeline Masters. Unfortunately, it was at this same event, when his surfing career peaked, that he was involved in an incident that required no less than 150 stitches. Jack Johnson also lost a few teeth in the incident.
How He Began His Career
Originally Jack Johnson started as a surfer. However, he learned the guitar at the age of 8 and started songwriting at the age of 12. Currently, he can play the guitar, ukulele, and keyboards with ease. His older brother was the first to expose him to music. Trent, as Jack’s older brother was called, belonged to a band and had a guitar. When he wasn’t around, Jack was fond of sneaking into his bedroom to mess around with the guitar and strum a few notes.
When he was college, he joined a band named Soil and played the guitar for them, honing his talents in the process. Despite not pulling big crowds, Jack Johnson worked hard at his craft. He opened for other musical talents and formed a network of friends with people such as Zach Gill, who would later be a bandmate.
In 1999, Jack Johnson’s first big break came in the form of his song Rodeo Clowns. He wrote and contributed vocals to this song and it became the most famous song on alternative hip-hop band G. Love’s album. After touring the nation in the first half of the year, Jack returned to the studio in late 2002 and released his second album named On and On the following year in 2003. He dropped 5 albums between 2003 and 2017 to critical acclaim. In Between Dreams was first heard in 2005, two years after On and On. Sleep Through the Static was released in 2008, To the Sea came out in 2010, From Here to Now to You was a 2013 album and in 2017, All the Light Above It Too was released.
Riding on the waves of success, Jack Johnson directed 2 movies in 2000 and 2002; Thicker Than Water which was a surfing-based documentary and The September Sessions. He starred in both movies and also provided the soundtracks. Later, in 2014, he appeared in another surf film titled A Brokedown Melody.
Jack Johnson and his wife Kim established the Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation in 2008, a global non-profit charity that supports environmental, art, and music education. At the start of the 2011 Tōhoku devastating earthquake in Japan, Jack was on his To the Sea 2010 World Tour with his family. He had to postpone the tour and ended up donating $50,000 to support the victims of the earthquake. In 2012, Jack also raised $50,000 for Hurricane Sandy relief and added links on his website for others to donate. His philanthropy coupled with his love for the environment no doubt earned him new fans.
