Jack Johnson
Jack Johnson’s Unexpected Longevity
In 2020, Jack Johnson’s teenage son came to him with some unexpected news: “Upside Down,” Johnson’s 2009 song off the Curious George soundtrack, went viral. The groovy tune, it turned out, had been used by a TikToker to soundtrack a comical video involving a stolen TV from Arby’s. The video quickly amassed 3.5 million likes and soon, 50,000 other TikTokers were making their own memes around it. In short order, streams and sales for Johnson’s entire catalog skyrocketed. “Soon the people at my record label, Brushfire, were calling me up telling me about this Tik Tok thing,” the perpetually mellow singer-songwriter says over the phone from Hawaii. “It was just so funny because you do all this other work at AAA Radio and one person chooses to put you in the background of their TikTok now and t...
30 Artists Reflect on 30 Years of Pearl Jam’sTen
The story has been told thousands of times, but it bears repeating: Pearl Jam should never have happened. The ’90s had just begun. In March 1990, the promising Seattle rock band Mother Love Bone was about to unveil their debut album. But on the eve of the release, the band’s lead singer, Andrew Wood, died tragically of a heroin overdose. His band members, guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament were blind-sided, devastated, and decided to end the band. Over the next few months, Gossard slowly found his way back to music. He made a few demos that landed in the hands of a surfer from San Diego via Chicago who got them from ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons. The surfer’s name was Eddie Vedder. The songs he sent back? “Alive,” “Once,” and “Footsteps.” Pearl Jam formed around t...
Dave Matthews, Haim, Incubus’ Brandon Boyd and More to Play Cat Stevens Tribute
Dave Matthews, Haim, Brandon Boyd of Incubus and 37 other artists will pay tribute to Yusuf/Cat Stevens with live performances this week. The CatSong Festival will honor the 50th anniversary of his 1970 albums Tea for the Tillerman and Mona Bone Jakon. “It’s great to see and hear these covers of my songs given new life,” Yusuf said in a statement. “There’s no better honor for a songwriter than to have his songs performed by talented musicians with such love and sincerity. Thank you.” Other performers include Jack Johnson, Feist, Passenger, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Sad13, Imelda May and more. The virtual festival will broadcast live on YouTube on Dec. 5 at 12pm PS/3pm EST/8pm GMT, which you can watch here. Despite the milestone, Yusuf had to cancel touring plans due to the pandemic....
Neil Young, Margo Price, Dave Matthews and More to Play Farm Aid 2020
Willie Nelson, Margo Price, Dave Matthews, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and more will be ringing in Farm Aid’s 35th anniversary with a special virtual livestream concert to bring awareness to farmers around the U.S. and the continuous struggles they face, especially during the current pandemic. “This pandemic and so many other challenges have revealed how essential family farmers and ranchers are to the future of our planet,” Farm Aid founder Willie Nelson said in a statement. “Farm Aid 2020 is going to give the whole country a chance to learn about the important work of farmers and how they’re contributing to our well-being, beyond bringing us good food.” Matthews, who is a Farm Aid board member, talked about the importance of the farming community, emphasizing that their voices shoul...
Mahershala Ali Lands “Dream Role”, To Play Legendary Boxer Jack Johnson In HBO Series ‘Unruly’
Source: Chelsea Guglielmino / Getty Get the awards ready, Mahershala Ali is coming for all of them. Marvel Studio’s new Blade, Marhershala Ali, will be hopping in the boxing ring and playing the legendary boxer Jack Johnson who was the world’s first Black heavyweight champion. Vulture reports that Ali has signed on to play Johnson in an upcoming HBO limited series called Unruly. Per Vulture: “Based on the Ken Burns documentary Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson and its accompanying book by Geoffrey C. Ward, the series will be written by playwright Dominique Morisseau and produced by Tom Hanks’ production company, Playtone.” This will be the second time Ali will portray Johnson. The actor first played Johnson in the 2000 stage revival of the play The Gr...
