Jamey Johnson is an award-winning American country music singer and songwriter. He is a popular singer and a well-known songwriter among his fans. Unfortunately, Jamey faced an accident that led to brain damage years before. However, the impact of the concussion directly affected his ability to concentrate, which affected his career.
Born on July 14, 1975, Jamey Johnson is an American singer and composer of country music. Johnson made his breakthrough with the single “The Dollar,” which served as the lead single for his 2006 album of the same name, after signing with BNA Records in 2005.
After being fired from BNA in 2006, he joined Mercury Nashville Records in March 2008 and put out his second album, That Lonesome Song, which went on to receive a gold certification. The top 10 singles, “In Color” and “High Cost of Living,” were taken from this album.
Let’s have a deeper look at his life and career, as well as the unfortunate mishap in detail.
Younger Years
The singer was born in 1975 in Alabama. He was passionate and started playing guitar at the age of 10. He also learned to play musical instruments. Johnson finished high school at Jefferson Davis High School and graduated from Jacksonville University.
Johnson grew up in the state of Montgomery and started to perform in bars and pubs as a singer. He joined the US Marine Corps Reserve. In his early 20s, Johnson went to Nashville to pursue his career.
Beginning of Music Career
Johnson first sang with singer Gretchen Wilson and also wrote songs. His first try at writing a song was Honky-tonk Badonkadonk, sung by Trace Adkins in 2005 and added to his album Songs About Me. Later, Johnson co-wrote with other singers, including David Dallas, Jessie James, and Randy Houser.
Shinning Years of Johnson’s Career
After years of moving to Nashville, in 2005 Johnson released his debut album, The Dollar. The album ranked at No. 4 on the Billboard Country Music chart whereas the album’s single Rebelicious didn’t achieve success and Johnson lost the contract from BNA.
Besides singing, he concentrated on songwriting and wrote multiple songs with different co-writers. Johnson’s song Give It Away co-written with Bill Anderson and sung by George Strait ranked at no.1 on the CMA musical chart.
The song became the greatest hit for George Strait. In 2007, another song Ladies Love Country Boys, Another Side Of You, and I Got My Game sung by Trace Adkins and Joe Nichols also gained popularity on the Billboard country music charts.
Johnson’s second album released in 2008 named The Lonesome Songs made him popular not only among music lovers but also captured the attention of music recording companies. The album is certified Gold by RIAA.
The foremost songs of the albums included In Color and High Cost of Living. In the next year of 2009, Johnson published a new single My Way To You counted as the high ranking on the music ranking charts.
Following year, in 2010 Johnson’s new album The Guitar Song was released. Its top single Playing the Part included as the music video directed by Matthew MC. The album scored at no.1 on the country music chart and almost 60 thousand copies sold in the starting weeks of its release.
A Mishap of His Life
It was the time when Johnson was becoming one of the top country music artists. He was busy releasing his new albums to entertain his fans.
The day when Johnson was working on his upcoming album, while coming out of the studio his foot slipped due to the slippery ice all over there. He fell on the ground on the side of his head from the back.
His head hit hard and he got injured. He was admitted to the Scottsdale Hospital where he was prescribed concussion surgery in 2010.
According to Johnson, it was such a hard time he faced in his life, and his brain is not working well, it is in a hyper-vigilant state. It took several years to recover him.
However, seven years after his concussion surgery, he often discussed his accident and revealed that he would take some more time to concentrate on songwriting.
A Concussion Surgery: A Brief Description
Johnson’s neurologists decided swiftly to take concussion surgery as his condition was not good. Concussion surgery is brain surgery that is related to appropriate brain function. The patient faces memory problems, light sensitivity, dizziness, chronic headaches, and other symptoms that lead to brain working.
Brain injury is the common cause of the surgery. However, the doctor should assess the situation by checking the patient’s eye and limb movement, time response, and other parts of the head. The doctor may also prescribe a CT scan and MRI testing to assess the condition.
The surgery depends upon the injury on time. The conditions include blood clots, bleeding in the brain, skull rapture, and rehabilitation. The recovery period is also longer after a concussion. The patient needs to take months of rest, prevent re-injury, and seek medical or neurologist help.
Music After Concussion Surgery
In the means of recovery and rehabilitation, music impacted positively on brain function. However, it took many years for Johnson to cope with the injury. According to scientists, music is beneficial for memory improvement, cognitive abilities, speech stimulation, and vocabulary recall.
Memory loss, concentration problem, and fatigue are the issues that a survivor face after the surgery and Johnson. Music helped him to come back to the track of music and start his succeeding career like in previous years.
Highlights of His Work
Some of his work highlights are listed in the data table below.
| Song Title | Album | Year of Release |
| The Dollar | The Dollar | 2005 |
| Rebelicious | The Dollar | 2006 |
| In Color | The Lonesome Song | 2008 |
| Playing the Part | The Guitar | 2009 |
| High Cost of Living | The Guitar | 2009 |
| Heartache | The Guitar | 2009 |
| Living For a Song | A Tribute to Hank Cochran | 2012 |
Johnson also worked with other artists of his time.
| Song Title | Co-artist | Year of Release |
| Cover of The Rolling Stone | Sammy Kershaw | 2010 |
| Cold Beer | Colt Ford | 2010 |
| Bad Angel | Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert | 2010 |
| Orange Man | Alexander King, Kris Kristofferson | 2011 |
| Have Thine Own Way Lord | The Blind Boys of Alabama | 2011 |
| Some Gave All | Billy Ray Cyrus, Darryl Worley, and Craig Morgan | 2011 |
| Hero | Willie Nelson and Billy Joe Shaver | 2012 |
| Sunday Morning Coming Down | Kris Kristofferson | 2012 |
| The Highwaymen | Kris Kristofferson, Shooter Jennings, and Willie Nelson | 2012 |
| The Git Go | Willie Nelson | 2014 |
| Brain Cloudy Blues | Ray Benson | 2015 |
| If I Was Over You | Amanda Watkins | 2015 |
| Actin’ Crazy | Randy Rogers Band | 2016 |
| The Ghost of Macon Jones | Joe Bonamassa | 2018 |
| Everybody Wants to Be Twenty-One | Bill Anderson | 2019 |
| Ladies Love Outlaws | Mickey LaMantia | 2020 |
| A Music Man | Nick Norman | 2020 |
| Lonesome for a Livin | Blackberry Smoke | 2021 |
| Highway Feet | Larry Fleet | 2021 |
| Stubborn Pride | Zac Brown Band | 2022 |
| Music City’s Killing Me | Julie Roberts | 2022 |
| If I Needed You | Rachel Bradshaw | 2022 |
Awards and Accomplishments
Johnson was nominated multiple times as Best Vocal of the Year and for Best Song of the Year for Grammy awards and CMA awards. However, he won the Academy of Country Music award twice for his hard work.
| Award | Album or Song | Winning Year |
| Academy of Country Music Award | Give It Away | 2007 |
| Country Music Association Award | Give It Away | 2007 |
| Academy of Country Music Award | In Color | 2009 |
| Country Music Association Award | In Color | 2009 |
Johnson was also nominated for Grammy Awards from 2010 to 2013 for Best Vocal and Songs of the Year.
Conclusion
- Jamey Johnson is a well-known country music singer and songwriter who belongs to America.
- He was born in Alabama in 1975 and was passionate about music. He started his musical career in 2005, although he wrote songs for other singers before coming into the world of singing.
- Jamey got into an accident while slipping on the ice, and his head was badly injured. He suggested concussion surgery after the accident in 2010.
- Jamey won multiple awards for his greatest hits. Recently, he has been busy visiting tours, attending live concerts, and releasing new items for his fans.