The surfer whose Pipeline accident became a song

Jack Johnson was born in 1975 on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, the son of a surfer, and began surfing at five. At 17 he became the youngest invitee to reach the finals of the Pipeline Masters, one of surfing's most prestigious events. One week later his professional surfing career ended with an accident at the Pipeline: he needed more than 100 stitches in his forehead, and some teeth were removed. The incident later inspired his song “Drink the Water”.

He graduated from Kahuku High School in 1993 and then studied film at the University of California, Santa Barbara, graduating in 1997. He had learned guitar at eight and started writing songs at twelve, and in college he played rhythm guitar for a band called Soil, opening for then little-known acts such as Sublime and Dave Matthews. A rival band, Django, led by Zach Gill, became a friendship and eventually the two were bandmates. Johnson names Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley among his songwriting influences.

The break came through a song. Johnson wrote and sang on “Rodeo Clowns”, which appeared on G. Love's 1999 album Philadelphonic. A mutual friend, with whom Johnson was making surf films, had introduced them, and after hearing the song G. Love saw his potential and invited him to record. That recording launched his career.

The Billboard 200 has been kind to him. Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George (2006), Sleep Through the Static (2008), To the Sea (2010) and From Here to Now to You (2013) all reached number one, and In Between Dreams, home of “Better Together” and “Upside Down”, peaked at number two in 2005 and again in 2013. All the Light Above It Too (2017) was his seventh top-five album. Johnson is active in environmental causes, especially the oceans, and with his wife Kim set up the Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation and the Kōkua Hawaii Foundation. In 2008 he donated the proceeds of the Sleep Through the Static tour to the foundation.