1. Daniel Dale Johnston was an American singer, musician and artist regarded as a significant figure in outsider, lo-fi, and alternative music scenes.
24 Facts About Daniel Johnston
1. 2.
Daniel Johnston 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.
3.
Daniel Johnston created visual art, and his illustrations were exhibited at galleries around the world.
4.
Daniel Johnston died in 2019 of a suspected heart attack.
5.
Daniel Johnston was born in Sacramento, California, and grew up in New Cumberland, West Virginia.
6.
Daniel Johnston was the youngest of five children of William Dale "Bill" Johnston and Mabel Ruth Voyles Johnston.
7.
Daniel Johnston began recording music in the late 1970s on a $59 Sanyo monaural boombox, singing and playing piano as well as the chord organ.
8.
Daniel Johnston later attended the art program at Kent State University, East Liverpool, during which he recorded Songs of Pain and More Songs of Pain.
9.
In 1984, Daniel Johnston took a job at McDonald's and passed out tapes in the store.
10.
Later, Daniel Johnston moved to Austin, Texas with a traveling carnival, working at a corn dog stand.
11.
Daniel Johnston 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.
12.
Daniel Johnston's 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.
13.
In 1988, Daniel Johnston visited New York City and recorded 1990 with producer Mark Kramer at his Noise New York studio.
14.
In 1990, Daniel Johnston played at a music festival in Austin, Texas.
15.
Interest in Daniel Johnston increased when Kurt Cobain was frequently photographed wearing a T-shirt featuring the cover image of Daniel Johnston's album Hi, How Are You that music journalist Everett True had given to him.
16.
Daniel Johnston refused to sign a multi-album deal with Elektra Records because Metallica was on the label's roster and he was convinced that they were Satanic and would hurt him, dropping his longtime manager, Jeff Tartakov, in the process.
17.
In 2004, Johnston released The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered, a two-disc compilation.
18.
Daniel Johnston's artwork was shown in galleries such as in London's Aquarium Gallery, New York's Clementine Gallery and at the Liverpool Biennial in 2006 and 2008, and in 2009, his work was exhibited at "The Museum of Love" at Verge Gallery in Sacramento, California.
19.
In 2009, it was announced that Matt Groening had chosen Daniel Johnston to perform at the edition of the All Tomorrow's Parties festival that he curated in May 2010, in Minehead, England.
20.
Daniel Johnston played it during its development and liked it, although he was not familiar with the iPhone.
21.
Daniel Johnston collaborated with skateboarding and clothing company Supreme on numerous collections showcasing his artwork.
22.
On March 1,2012, Brooklyn-based photographer Jung Kim announced her photo book and traveling exhibition project with Johnston titled DANIEL JOHNSTON: here, a collaboration that began in 2008 when Kim first met Johnston and began photographing him on the road and at his home in Waller, Texas.
23.
On September 11,2019, Daniel Johnston was found dead from a suspected heart attack at his home in Waller, Texas.
24.
Daniel Johnston is buried at Magnolia Cemetery in Katy, Texas.