Daniel Johnston Biography
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- Born Jan. 22, 1961
Daniel Dale Johnston (born January 22, 1961) is an American singer-songwriter and visual artist who is regarded as a significant figure in outsider, lo-fi, and alternative music scenes. Most of his work consists of cassettes recorded alone in his home, and his music is frequently cited for its "pure and childlike soul".\n', 'Johnston has spent extended periods in psychiatric institutions and has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He gathered a local following in the 1980s by passing out tapes of his music while working at a McDonald\'s in Austin, Texas. His cult status was propelled when Nirvana\'s Kurt Cobain was seen wearing a T-shirt that featured artwork from Johnston\'s 1983 album Hi, How Are You. In 2005, Johnston was the subject of the documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston.\n', 'Johnston was born in Sacramento, California, and grew up in New Cumberland, West Virginia. He is the youngest of five children of William Dale "Bill" Johnston (1922-2017) and Mabel Ruth Voyles Johnston (1923–2010). He began recording music in the late 1970s on a $59 Sanyo monaural boombox, singing and playing piano as well as the chord organ. Following graduation from Oak Glen High School, Johnston spent a few weeks at Abilene Christian University in West Texas before dropping out. He later attended the art program at the East Liverpool campus of Kent State University, during which he recorded Songs of Pain and More Songs of Pain.\n', '
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