Jack Johnson was born May 18, 1975[1] is an American folk rock singer-songwriter, surfer and musician known for his work in the soft rock and acoustic genres. In 2001, he achieved commercial success after the release of his debut album, Brushfire Fairytales. He has since released four more albums, a number of EPs and surfing movies/soundtracks. He is also known for organizing an annual event, the Kōkua Festival.
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Jack Johnson was born and raised on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii.[2] The son of well-known surfer Jeff Johnson, he took an interest in the sport. He began to learn how to surf at the age of 5. At 17, he became the youngest invitee to make the surfing finals at the Pipeline Masters on Oahu's north shore. One week later, however, his stint as a professional surfer ended when he suffered a surfing accident at the Pipeline that put over 150 stitches in his forehead and knocked a few of his teeth out.[3][dead link][4][dead link]
Jack Johnson graduated from Kahuku High School on the North Shore of Oahu. He would later attend the University of California, Santa Barbara and graduate with a degree in film. While Johnson learned the guitar at the age of 14 and started songwriting at the age of 16 [5], his passion for music grew when he played rhythm guitar for the band Soil (not to be confused with the heavy metal band Soil) in college.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Johnson_%28musician%29