Bruce Johnston Net Worth

What Is Bruce Johnston's Net Worth?

Bruce Johnston is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer who has a net worth of $20 million. Bruce Johnston is best known for being a member of the Beach Boys. He studied music in high school and played on Sandy Nelson's "Teen Beat," a song that would ultimately reach the Billboard Top Ten. He produced several songs and an album in the early 1960s before joining the Beach Boys on the bass. He penned a handful of songs for the band, including "Disney Girls." His voice is also featured on the songs "Deirdre" and "Tears in the Morning." Seven years after joining the band, Johnston embarked on a solo career, releasing the 1977 album "Going Public." He wrote "I Write the Songs," which was a hit for Barry Manilow, before he returned to the Beach Boys in 1978. The song earned Bruce a Grammy Award for Song of the Year. Johnston has appeared in the film "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (1978) and the TV movie "Deadman's Curve" (1978), and he has guest-starred as himself on "Full House" (1988), "Baywatch" (1995), and "Home Improvement" (1997).

Early Life

Bruce Johnston was born Benjamin Baldwin on June 27, 1942, in Peoria, Illinois. Chicago residents Irene and William Johnston adopted him as a child, and he grew up in Los Angeles in the wealthy Bel-Air and Brentwood neighborhoods. William worked for Walgreens in Chicago, and he served as the president of the Owl Rexall Drug Company when the family lived in L.A. Bruce attended the Bel Air Town and Country School, a private school, before enrolling at the University of California, Los Angeles. During his youth, he studied classical piano at Interlochen Arts Camp.

Career

During his high school years, Johnston switched from classical to contemporary music. He performed with a few bands before working with young musicians such as Kim Fowley, Sandy Nelson, and Phil Spector. Bruce soon began working as a backing musician for the Everly Brothers, Ritchie Valens, and Eddie Cochran. In 1959, he arranged and played on Sandy Nelson's hit single "Teen Beat" while still in high school. The single reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. That year Johnston also released his own single, "Take This Pearl," as part of the duo Bruce & Jerry, which he formed with his high school friend Jerry Cooper. The Bruce Johnston-Judy Harriet song "I Promise You" was featured in the 1959 film "Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow." In 1960, Bruce began working as a record producer at Del-Fi Records, producing the Ron Holden album "Love You So," which included many tracks that Johnston wrote or co-wrote. In the early '60s, Bruce released the albums "Surfers' Pajama Party" (1962) and "Surfin' Round the World" (1963) and collaborated with Doris Day's son, Terry Melcher, on an album that consisted mostly of instrumental covers. The duo later produced music for the band the Rip Chords while working at Columbia Records, Hollywood, as staff producers. They produced the Rip Chords hit "Hey Little Cobra," which sold more than a million copies, and sang on the recording. Johnston and Melcher also released some recordings as Bruce & Terry and the Rogues.

Bruce joined the Beach Boys in April 1965 and subsequently began playing bass. In May 1966, he traveled to London and played the "Pet Sounds" album for Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and Keith Moon. Johnston provided backing vocals on six tracks: "God Only Knows," "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "Sloop John B," "You Still Believe in Me," "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times," and "That's Not Me." He was also the co-lead singer on "God Only Knows." Bruce didn't participate in most of the "Smiley Smile" sessions in 1967, and he only played on a few tracks on the album "Wild Honey," which was also released that year. He didn't love the 1968 album "Friends" and called its songs "wimpy," and in mid-1969, the other members of the Beach Boys asked Billy Hinsche, a touring member of the band, to permanently replace Johnston. However, Hinsche turned the offer down because he was attending UCLA and wanted to focus on his studies. Beginning with the 1969 instrumental song "The Nearest Faraway Place," the band started including Bruce's original compositions on their albums. His most notable composition for the Beach Boys was "Disney Girls," which was featured on the 1971 album "Surf's Up" and was later covered by artists such as Doris Day, Art Garfunkel, Captain & Tennille, and Cass Elliot.

In 1972, Johnston was no longer a member of the Beach Boys. The band's manager, Jack Rieley, said that he fired Johnston, but Bruce has said that he decided to leave the group. Brian Wilson later said, "All I know is he got into a horrible fight with Jack Rieley. Some dispute, and they got into a horrible fight, and the next day Bruce was gone." Johnston then pursued a solo career and released the 1977 album "Going Public." In late 1978, he reunited with the Beach Boys when Brian Wilson asked him to co-produce and perform on the album "L.A. (Light Album)." Bruce was credited as the sole producer on the 1980 Beach Boys album "Keepin' the Summer Alive," and he has stayed with the band ever since. After Carl Wilson died, Johnston was the only member of the band to continue touring with Mike Love. Bruce has retained equal ownership of Wilojarston, the Beach Boys' ASCAP publishing company, and he's the only band member who has won a Grammy for Song of the Year, which he received for Barry Manilow's version of "I Write the Songs." He has also performed on several of Mike Love's solo albums, including "Summertime Cruisin'" (2001), "Unleash the Love" (2017), and "12 Sides of Summer" (2019).

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Personal Life

Bruce and his wife, Harriet, have been married since July 29, 1976. They have four sons: Justin, Max, Ozzie, and Ryan. Johnston has said that he's "a real conservative guy" and has never taken drugs. As of 2012, he identified as a Republican. In May 2012, during the Beach Boys' 50th anniversary tour, a fan video caught Bruce criticizing President Barack Obama and his opponent, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, at a meet and greet.

Awards and Nominations

Johnston has earned two Grammy nominations, winning for Song of the Year for Barry Manilow's "I Write the Songs" in 1977. His other nomination was for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for the Beach Boys song "Kokomo" (shared with Mike Love and Carl Wilson) in 1989. In 2016, the Beach Boys received the Golden Camera for Lifetime Achievement in the Music International category at Germany's Golden Camera Awards.

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