New York:
Daniel Johnston, the influential singer-songwriter and visual artist who painted Austin’s famous “Hi How Are You” frog mural on the Drag, died last night following a heart attack at age 58. The news was confirmed by his former manager Jeff Tartakov.
Johnston, a lo-fi legend, was celebrated over the course of his career by the likes of Tom Waits and Kurt Cobain.
The latter famously paid tribute to the Johnston at the 1992 MTV Music Awards, when he wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the same design that adorned Johnston’s celebrated Hi, How Are You album.
According to The Austin Chronicle, Johnston, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, had been in poor health lately.
The musician had a fall, had been hospitalised, and had gone through several adjustments in his medication, the newspaper reported citing Johnston’s sister.
Born in Sacramento, California and raised in West Virginia, Johnston moved to Austin, Texas where he began establishing his fan base in the Eighties.
He put out 11 albums during that decade – including the famed Hi, How Are You in 1983.
In the Nineties, while his influence continued to grow, Johnston experienced commercial failure after releasing his 1994 album Fun – the only release of his short-lived contract with Atlantic Records.
The 2005 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston chronicled the musician’s career as well as his mental health diagnoses.
Johnston released six more albums between 2000 and 2012. He told The Austin Chronicle in 2018 that he had been working on a new release and that he hoped it would debut soon.
Fans promptly paid tribute to Johnston on social media after the news of his death broke.
The musician’s legacy remains honoured in Austin, where Johnston was commissioned to paint a mural featuring the frog character associated with Hi, How Are You in 1993.
