Singer Daniel Johnston dies at 58
Indie star had bittersweet touch
Daniel Johnston, a singer-songwriter and outsider artist who battled mentalhealth issues while recording hundreds of humorous, bittersweet songs that made him a near-mythical figure in indie rock, died Sept. 11 at his home in Waller, Texas, a farming town outside Houston. He was 58.
His brother and manager, Dick, said Johnston had been in a hospital with kidney problems and was released a day before his death “feeling good and everything,” when he apparently suffered a heart attack overnight.
Johnston had manic depression and schizophrenia and faced increasing health problems in recent years, notably diabetes and hydrocephalus, a buildup of fluid in the brain.
Although he said he hoped to continue performing, he embarked in 2017 on what was billed as his “final tour,” joined by a backing band that included members of Wilco, Fugazi and Built to Spill — a roster of indie rock all-stars that spoke to his reputation as a master lyricist and intimate, uninhibited singer.
Emerging on Austin’s underground music scene in the mid-1980s, he used a $59 Sanyo boombox to record himself on acoustic guitar, organ and piano, and released cassette tapes decorated with his own ink and marker artwork.
His music was unabashedly simple and straightforward but drew a cult following, notably after Kurt Cobain of Nirvana was photographed in a T-shirt bearing the cover of Johnston’s album “Hi, How Are You” (1983).
Johnston was covered by Tom Waits, Beck and Lana Del Rey, collaborated with singer Jad Fair of Half Japanese and guitarist Paul Leary of the Butthole Surfers, and was the subject of a 2005 documentary, “The Devil and Daniel Johnston,” that earned filmmaker Jeff Feuerzeig a directing award at the Sundance Film Festival.
In addition to his brother, survivors include three sisters.