Wayne Johnson

Who is Wayne Johnson?

Wayne Johnson is an American jazz and acoustic guitarist based in Southern California. Johnson won a joint Grammy Award in 2004 for his contribution to the album Pink Guitar, which featured the songs of composer Henry Mancini.

Johnson attended Boston's Berklee College Of Music in the late 1970s, and shortly thereafter joined the vocal group Manhattan Transfer for more than 20 years. To date, he has recorded eight solo CDs, most often in a trio with bassist Jimmy Johnson and drummer Bill Berg, who were founding members of the group Flim & the BB's. Currently, he is a guitarist for Bette Midler's Las Vegas show at Caesar's Palace.

Johnson has performed worldwide with numerous other artists including Rickie Lee Jones, Elton John, John Tesh, Akiko Yano and Lee Oskar. He is also a music educator and instructor, and serves as a clinician for Taylor Guitars.

Johnson grew up in Spokane, Washington where he studied guitar under Jack C. Campbell, a pioneer in the chord-melody guitar technique.