Big Sugar originally consisted of Johnson, bassist Terry Wilkins, and drummer Al Cross.

Big Sugar recorded the album Five Hundred Pounds with the help of guest musicians, including harmonica and tenor saxophonist Kelly Hoppe, a.k.a.

Johnson told The Globe & Mail, "His bass sound became how I envisioned Big Sugar's sound—a blend of blues and rock anchored by his reggae groove.

"[4] In 1993, Big Sugar released the album Five Hundred Pounds,[5] which had little publicity or radio airplay but sold 10,000 copies in Canada on the strength of their live shows.

In 1995, Johnson also recorded an album under the name Don't Talk Dance,[6] with Tyler Stewart of Barenaked Ladies and Chris Brown of the Bourbon Tabernacle Choir.

Lowe's musical partner Tony 'Raffa' White was enlisted for recording and other live performances, becoming Johnson's favorite studio drummer and appearing on many Big Sugar albums.

Former Odds member Paul Brennan subsequently joined as the band's new drummer, playing on one of their most commercially successful albums, 1996's Hemi-Vision.

A French version of Hemi-Vision's single "Opem Up Baby" was recorded, titled "Ouvres-Toi Bébé", for radio stations in Quebec.

Also that year, Johnson and Hoppe began to perform acoustic shows as a duo, billed as "Big Sugar Acoustic—Two Fools on Stools".

In February that year they opened for The Rolling Stones at the Air Canada Centre,[10] and in July, performed at Woodstock 1999.

The two-CD compilation Hit & Run, that included a special edition, limited-run live concert performance disc, was released in 2003.

Johnson moved to Austin, Texas, where, in 2003, he had co-founded the band Grady with "Whipper" Chris Layton on drums and Big Ben Richardson on bass.

[18] The album was recorded live off the floor with the large group of musicians, most on hand drums, sitting in a circle 'yard style'.

Austin-based Rey Arteaga, master of Afro-Cuban Congas, joined Big Sugar, which had become a percussion-heavy, guitar-based band as it no longer had keyboards, harmonica or horns.

Joining them were members of Barenaked Ladies, Bedouin Soundclash, Broken Social Scene, Sloan, Danko Jones, Dream Warriors, The Road Hammers, The Human Rights, I Mother Earth, The New Deal, Culture Shock, and Wide Mouth Mason, plus Tom Wilson, Isax Injah, Maestro Fresh Wes, Julian Taylor, Willi Williams, Errol Blackwood, Mojah Benn, Adrian Sheriff Miller, and Leroy Sibbles.

[29] Recorded and mixed at the Johnsons' studio, The Sound Shack, it features Alex Lifeson of Rush playing guitar on the title track.

During the lockdown, Johnson also produced a one-season weekly series on YouTube called "GJ in the SoundShack", in which he talked about songwriting, recording and the equipment he uses.

Big Sugar's much-anticipated “Heated 25th Anniversary Tour” continued through 2023 as Gordie Johnson returned to the stage with new bassist and fellow Austinite Anders Drerup and 22-year-old phenom drummer Root Valach.

Label owner Jack White is a fan of the band, and has stated that Five Hundred Pounds is "the best blues-based record to ever come out of Canada.

Gordie Johnson has earned numerous gold and platinum records with his band Big Sugar and as producer or musician with Govt Mule, Joel Plaskett, The Trews and Default.

In 2013, the Hard Rock Café Hotel & Casino in Vancouver created a Gordie Johnson display that featured the SGJ.