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Jack Johnson is an American singer, a professional surfer and an environmental activist.
He was born in Hawaii in 1975.
He became a singer after a surfing accident that almost killed him when he was 17 years old. To pass the time as he recovered in hospital and at home, he played the guitar for hours and hours, and he started singing. He composed his first album in 2001. He started giving concerts in small coffee shops but he says that he had never dreamt of becoming a famous singer. Since 2001, he has sold 25 million records and he has made 7 albums. His music genre is soft, acoustic rock; he says that his inspiration comes from singers like Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix or Ben Harper.
Jack Johnson is the exact opposite of a rock star: he is quiet, humble, and not interested in being a celebrity. For him, being a singer is not about “sex, drugs and rock’n roll”. The three things that he enjoys most in life are: spending time with his family, playing music with his friends on the beach, and surfing the local Hawaiian waves.
Jack always wears the same uniform, on the beach or on stage: a t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops. Hawaii is Jack’s home, the place where he finds peace and inspiration.
In 2000, Jack Johnson got married to Kim, his college girlfriend. They have three children, two boys and a girl. Jack says that the secrets to his success are: surfing, and his wife.
Today, Kim is Jack’s manager and together, they have created a foundation to support environmental education. Jack is particularly concerned with the plastic problem facing Hawaii: because of the ocean currents, local beaches have become littered with garbage from all over the world. Jack has composed songs about the environment for children, like for example “The 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”.
He says the most difficult thing for him is to balance his life as an artist, an environmental activist and a father.
Some of his most famous songs are: Good People, Better Together, or Upside Down.
In 2006, he interpreted the song “We’re gonna be friends” but he didn’t compose it; it was written by an American rock band called “The White Stripes”.
