Athletes - Jack Johnson

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	Athletes - Jack Johnson

Jack Johnson (born May 18, 1975) is a Hawaii-born singer-songwriter who has achieved commercial success and a dedicated following since the release of his 2001 debut album, Brushfire Fairytales. His newest album is entitled Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George.

Biography

Early Years

Johnson had been a professional surfer until an accident, in which he broke his nose, had his front teeth knocked out and received more than 150 stitches to his mouth and forehead. He learned to play guitar at age 14, but did not seriously pursue a career in the arts until his college years at University of California at Santa Barbara, where he graduated with a degree in film. After graduating, Jack decided to take time out travelling (1997-98) when he co-directed and shot the purist surf film Thicker Than Water to be released later.

Music

Making friends with Garrett Dutton aka G.Love of G.Love and Special Sauce, he recorded "Rodeo Clowns" with them to be released on their 1999 album Philadelphonic. This launched his music career and eventually lead to the release of his first album, Brushfire Fairytales in 2001 to aid in the Thicker than Water soundtrack.

After touring for almost two years, Johnson released his second album, On and On to generally favorable reviews in late 2003. Many of the songs on On and On had previously been released on bootlegs, such as J.O.A.T. and B.O.A.T., but received the accompaniment of a full band on the new album.

Johnson's interest in surfing also led him to produce and score several surfing films including September Sessions and Thicker Than Water, the soundtracks for which were released on CD/DVD between the release of Brushfire Fairytales and On and On. Johnson has appeared in the surf film Shelter, which was made by his manager Emmett Malloy, and also in Sprout, where he was featured in the Sprout House Band (Jack Johnson, Tommy Guerrero, Money Mark and Adam Topol). The music video for his song "Taylor" also features a guest appearance from actor Ben Stiller.

Jack Johnson also owns Brushfire Records which put out the soundtrack for the aforementioned films and also releases albums by other artists, including Matt Costa, Animal Liberation Orchestra and G. Love & Special Sauce.

His third studio album, titled In Between Dreams, was released on March 1, 2005. Over a year later, it is still in the charts, at number 3 no less (as of 21st March 2006).

Johnson recently appeared on the Sublime tribute album Look at All the Love We Found, and was on Handsome Boy Modeling School's White People, released in 2004. In 2005 he appeared on the Black Eyed Peas album Monkey Business.

He will be touring Europe in spring 2006.

In 2004, Johnson founded the , which is a non-profit organization that supports environmental education in the schools and communities of Hawaii. The Kokua Festival is the Kokua Hawaii Foundation's annual benefit event that brings together environmental organizations, eco-friendly businesses, musicians, artists, teachers, and community leaders to promote environmental awareness in Hawaii.

He won a Brit Award in 2006 for Best International Newcomer, beating The Pussycat Dolls, John Legend, Arcade Fire and Daniel Powter.

Personal Life

Jack Johnson met Kim in his first week of attending the University of California at Santa Barbara. They married in 2000 and four years later, they had a baby boy called Moe.

Discography

Soundtracks and EPs

September Sessions
Thicker Than Water
Sprout
A Broke Down Melody
Some Live Songs EPi suck nuts

Unofficial bootlegs

B.O.A.T.
Lullabies (Jack Johnson)
J.O.A.T.
T.R.I.P.1
T.R.I.P.2

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