Johnston was born in Sacramento, California, and grew up in New Cumberland, West Virginia. He died in 2019 of what is suspected to have been a heart attack. His struggles with mental illness were the subject of the 2005 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. īeyond music, Johnston was accomplished as a visual artist, with his illustrations exhibited at various galleries around the world. His cult status was propelled when Nirvana's Kurt Cobain was seen wearing a T-shirt that featured artwork from Johnston's 1983 cassette album Hi, How Are You. He gathered a local following in the 1980s by passing out tapes of his music while working at a McDonald's in Dobie Center in Austin, Texas. Johnston spent extended periods in psychiatric institutions and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Most of his work consisted of cassettes recorded alone in his home, and his music was frequently cited for its 'pure' and 'childlike' qualities. September 11, 2019) was an American singer-songwriter and visual artist regarded as a significant figure in outsider, lo-fi, and alternative music scenes.
