West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, Class of 2025
Opening Scene: The Extreme Highs & Terrifying Lows of Being Daniel Johnston.
On the evening of Wednesday, March 14, 1990, West Virginia native Daniel Johnston performed before 3,000 adoring fans at the Austin Music Awards Show at the Palmer Auditorium in Austin, Texas. He had been invited by the South by Southwest Music Festival, which was then in its fourth year. In 1986, Daniel Johnston had won Austin Music Awards for Best Songwriter and Best Folk Act. Then, he seemed to simply disappear.
But here he was again, in 1990, performing in Austin before 3,000 people, most of whom seemed to know the words to all his songs. That night, his manager commented that this was the happiest version of Daniel he had ever seen. Daniel’s proud father, Bill, who had flown his son to Austin in his small, two-seater aircraft, was raving, “He was the star. He got three standing ovations. No one else got any standing ovations.”
Then, things changed: the plane crash.
Immediately after his last song, Daniel yelled for his father to grab their stuff and “Let’s get out of here.” They bypassed interviewers and well-wishers and headed directly to a family member’s home, where they slept a few hours before getting back into Bill’s plane for an early morning, three-hour flight to a landing field near Daniel’s family home in Hancock County, West Virginia.
About two hours into the flight, Bill noticed Daniel’s behavior becoming more manic and temperamental. In hindsight, he said, “That’s when I realized Dan had been ducking his medicine for a few days. In Austin, I made sure he kept up with his meds, but he had ways of faking it.”
Daniel Johnston was on a variety of medications for several different mental illness diagnoses. Up to this point in his 29-year-old life, he had already been placed in mental hospitals in New York City, Austin, Texas, and Weston, West Virginia. Bill Johnston kept a close eye on his son.
However, about a half-hour from landing, Daniel told his father, “We should jump out of the plane and parachute down. That would be fun.” Alarmed, Mr. Johnston said, “No, Daniel. We don’t have parachutes on board.”
In response, in a flash, Daniel reached for the plane’s ignition key, turned the plane off, and then threw the key out the window, somewhere over Ohio. He then seized the plane’s controls from his father and took the plane straight up and then straight down.
Daniel finally let go of the controls, and his father swung into action. Bill Johnston had been trained as a military pilot, and he recalled, “I took training for ditching an airplane. I just didn’t let it stall and headed for some trees.”
The plane landed upside down, stuck in some trees, with the cabin five feet off the ground. Miraculously, Bill Johnston was not hurt, and Daniel received only minor cuts and bruises. The aircraft was a complete loss. Family and rescue crews made their way to the crash site. Bill Johnston rode home with his oldest son. Daniel Johnston was taken by ambulance directly to Weston State Mental Hospital, where he was involuntarily institutionalized by the courts for six months.
Within a 24-hour period in March 1990, Daniel Johnston had soared to new heights by playing the best show of his musical career; then, literally and personally, he crashed to the ground as his many demons, illnesses, and obsessions once again took control of his life.
And yet, the best was still to come…
Hi, How are You?
When West Virginia native Daniel Johnston passed away in September of 2019, the headline for his New York Times obituary succinctly summarized Johnston’s greatness, quirkiness, and troubles:
“Daniel Johnston Dies; Gifted and Enigmatic Songwriter Was 58. He was admired by Kurt Cobain and Tom Waits and earned comparisons to William Blake. But his career was cut short by his struggles with mental illness.” NYT 9/14/19.
Who was this West Virginia artist that drew raves from rock stars, and wrote songs that other artists were anxious to cover, just so they could say they cut a “Daniel Johnston song”.
In 2006, David Bowie told the UK rock magazine Uncut, “Daniel Johnston reminds me of aspects that made me love art in the first place.”
He was often compared to Brian Wilson and Roky Erickson, two other talented musicians who were often hospitalized for mental illness, but still managed to have a career.
Daniel was also notorious for self sabotaging his opportunities and blowing up his living arrangements. Between stays in mental hospitals in three different states, Johnston still managed to create art and music. His story is inspiring and sad, in equal doses.
On April 12, 2025, Daniel Johnston will be inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame by Wilco frontman, and collaborator, Jeff Tweedy.
The Story of An Artist.
Daniel Dale Johnston, was born on January 22, 1961, in Sacramento, California, and was the youngest of five children in his parent’s Christian fundamentalist household. Soon after his birth, the Johnstons moved to New Cumberland, West Virginia in the northern panhandle of the Mountain State.
His father, a former World War II fighter pilot and member of the heroic “Flying Tigers” squad, was also an engineer and had accepted a job with the Quaker State Oil Company, in one of its Ohio River facilities.
Young Daniel’s first love was drawing, and he often drew and doodled wildly imaginative drawings of big-eyed animals and comic book heroes.
When he was nine years old he used to bang around on a toy piano and try to compose horror movie themes.
By high school he was a member of the Oak Glen High School marching band, playing trumpet and percussion. Around this time he also began learning to play guitar, the chord organ, and the piano. He became quite proficient on the piano and began to compose his own songs in a room in his family’s basement.
His mother recalls that he was placed with the “high learners” in his classrooms and given special attention due to his many talents and interests. His mother also recalls that teachers learned very quickly what Mrs. Johnston already knew about her son, Daniel did not like to follow directions.
Fellow classmates at Oak Glen HS recall Daniel being very talented and that he was considered the “Art Class Star”. Daniel felt very comfortable with his art class friends in ways that made this natural born outsider feel connected to a group, and part of a community. This longing for connection will be the major theme of Daniel Johnston’s music and art.
Johnson was raised in the Church of Christ, and his parents felt that his interest in art conflicted with his religious upbringing. Daniel claimed it was “doing my art” that helped him deal with his depression and schizophrenia.
After graduating high school in 1979, Daniel left West Virginia to study art at Abilene Christian University in Texas, but dropped out within the first few weeks. His parents have both said that when he came back from Texas, something had changed in Daniel, and they came to believe it was during this time his mental illnesses started to become more apparent.
However, his ambition to be an artist persisted, and he enrolled in the Art School program at Kent State University, at East Liverpool, Ohio, directly across the river from Chester, WV.
While at Kent State he lived with his parents in nearby New Cumberland, WV, and began writing and recording a lot of songs. In 1980 he recorded Songs of Pain, the first of many self-released albums that he recorded on cassette tape using a boombox. These early recordings were defined by their low fidelity (Lo-Fi) production, childlike simplicity and anguished, boyish vocals.
By 1983, Johnston needed a change and he moved to Houston, TX, and lived with brother while working at the AstroWorld Amusement Park, selling hot dogs. In Houston he used his boombox and other “toy instruments” to record two more tapes, “Yip/Jump Music:Summer of 1983” and the classic “Hi, How Are You?.” These cassettes contained many of Daniel’s early classic songs such as “Sorry Entertainer” and “Speeding Motorcycle”.
In 1984 Daniel Johnston found his spiritual home in a Texas college town whose slogan was/is “Keep Austin Weird”. Perfect for Daniel Johnston. He put together his one man, nervous wreck, troubadour act and soon became a fixture on the Austin music scene. His quirkiness and innocence brought out the nurturer in some of his fellow artists, so they saw to it he got a lot of work in the many clubs, taverns and bars in Austin. He handed out free tapes at his shows and always introduced himself as “A Manic Depressive with Grandiose Dreams.”
Kurt Cobain & Satanic Metallica
The early 1990s saw Johnston’s profile rise further in alternative rock circles. By 1993 his songs had been covered by numerous artists (Beck, Tom Waits, the Flaming Lips, Yo Lo Tengo), and Kurt Cobain of Nirvana regularly wore a shirt bearing Johnston’s “Hi, How Are You?” artwork on the front, most famously at the MTV Awards in 1992.
As a result of his growing fame, Johnston found himself in the midst of a bidding war between major record labels Atlantic and Elektra. During the bidding war Johnston let it be known he believed Elektra was satanic because of their affiliation with the metal band Metallica.
Johnston signed with Atlantic and in 1994 recorded Fun. It was a lengthy and difficult recording process as Daniel was suffering from lithium tremors related to his medication. Pitchfork magazine called the album “some of the most emotionally resonant music of Johnston’s career.”
The album sold less than 6,000 copies and Atlantic Records dropped Johnston in 1996.
He did not resume touring again until the 2000s. In 2004 he released the inspired, two-disc set The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered. The first disc included cover versions of Johnston’s songs by famous alternative artists including Scotland’s Teenage Fanclub, Death Cab for Cutie, Vic Chestnut and T.V. On the Radio. The second disc was a “Best of Daniel Johnston by Daniel Johnston”, including 19 of his best known songs.
Middle Aged Daniel Johnston
In 2005 Johnston was the subject of the documentary “The Devil and Daniel Johnston”, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Directed by Jeff Feuerzeig, this film has grown in reputation over the years, to where in 2018 it was selected by Indie-Wire as the “Best Music Documentary of the 21st Century.” It was reviewed this way: “A reminder that true artistry is extremely rare to come by, and often impossible to survive. Deeply soulful, uniquely poetic, and darkly disturbed, the story of songwriter Daniel Johnston is as heartbreaking and captivating as the come.”
A cover of his song “Speeding Motorcycle”, about his moped, was featured in a commercial for the Target store chain in the early 2000s. His former manager Jeff Tartakov got Daniel’s art work included in the Whitney Biennial 2006 exhibition titled “Day for Night at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.”
In 2017 Johnson embarked on an official retirement tour that also featured backing bands including members of Fugazi, Wilco and Built to Spill.
In 2018 the city of Austin established the first ever “Hi, How Are You Day”, which led to the establishment of local programs to promote education regarding mental health and develop strategies to remove the stigma surrounding mental illness.
On September 11, 2019, Daniel Johnston died of a suspected heart attack at his family home in Waller Texas. He was 58 years old. Shortly after his death Austin mayor Steve Adler tweeted, “Not only was Daniel Johnston a legendary musician and artist who so authentically embodied Austin’s soul and spirit, he also inspired many in our community to fight stigma associated with mental health issues.”
In April of 2025, Daniel Johnston will be inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.
SOURCES:
- The Devil and Daniel Johnston. 2005 documentary directed by Jeff Feuerzeig. Essential viewing for anyone interested in the story of this amazing and troubled artist.
- The Texas State Historical Association.
- AmoebaMusic.com
- Pitchfork
Photos from Houston Chronicle, Austin Statesman, Daniel Johnstons Official Website, and New York Times
RECOMMENDED LISTENING – by the author.
Recommended Listening.
- In 2018, Apple used Daniel’s song “The Story of An Artist” in a national television ad, for one of its Mac Book products. Note the home movies of Daniel Johnston and his family in this video. These were taken at the Johnston’s home near New Cumberland, WV. This sweet, thoughtful song is the perfect place to begin your Daniel Johnston journey.
Story of an Artist by Daniel Johnston
- In 1994 Johnston recorded his only album for a major label. Atlantic Records won a bidding war with Elektra and Fun was released with high hopes. The album ultimately didn’t do well and Daniel got dropped by the label. “Love Wheel” makes the case that he was making some good music during this period.
- An odd choice for a fan favorite, but this song was always a big hit at any Daniel Johnston show. Only DJ could come up with a cheerful, everybody sing-along song about a town full of demons and vampires.
- One of the many “loveable loser” songs Johnston composed from time to time, “man obsessed”.
Daniel Johnston – man obsessed – YouTube
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