Natural Born Man

Hawaii’s own Grammy-nominated musician was carving out a growing reputation as a professional surfer when an accident left him too injured to compete at the highest level. Jack Johnson switched to making surf movies but gradually found his voice as a singer-songwriter. Initially a cult favorite among surfers, he has now crossed over to the mainstream, acclaimed as a “Dylan for the twenty-first century.” His third album, 2005’s In Between Dreams, sold over two million copies worldwide and continues to ride high in album charts, and he has just picked up a BRIT Award for International Breakthrough Act. Acclaimed George Harrison biographer Marc Shapiro has conducted hours of new interviews with those who knew Johnson both as a surfer and a musician, to produce a compelling portrait of one of rock’s most original new stars.