Split the Dark was a very popular act on the Southeast US college club circuit, and had won the MTV "Basement Tapes" competition in 1986 but failed to secure a record deal.

After securing a developmental deal in November 1990, the label eventually persuaded Johnson to take over the lead vocal position, and change the band's name to Brother Cane.

Brother Cane released three albums on Virgin Records (the self-titled debut which sold 300,000 copies,[3] Seeds, and Wishpool) that would yield three #1 singles on rock radio ("Got No Shame", "And Fools Shine On", and "I Lie in the Bed I Make").

[3] After multiple changes in label presidents and other staff at Virgin Records as well as a shift in the musical direction of U.S. rock radio, the band amicably disbanded in 1999.

Shortly before Brother Cane split, Johnson contributed songwriting and guitar duties to Sammy Hagar's Marching to Mars album in 1997.

[5] He also released albums with two different side projects (Slave to the System in 2001 and Red Halo in 2003) and played electric and acoustic guitars on Faith Hill's smash hit single, "Cry" in 2002.

[6] Johnson briefly collaborated with the band Damn Yankees with Jack Blades, Tommy Shaw, and Ted Nugent, and recorded an album that was never released.

[8] Johnson co-wrote the song "Every Day" that was later recorded by Fleetwood Mac vocalist Stevie Nicks, and was released as the first single from her solo album, Trouble in Shangri-La in 2001.

He also co-wrote the Carlos Santana song "Just Feel Better" with Jamie Houston and Buck Johnson, which featured vocalist Steven Tyler of Aerosmith.

Cooper is also credited with assisting greatly in Johnson's beloved golf game, as the two played hundreds of rounds in their years of touring the world together.

In December 2012, Johnson co-founded the Thin Lizzy spin-off band, Black Star Riders,[16] whose first album All Hell Breaks Loose was released in May 2013.

"[18] After touring across Europe, the US and Japan throughout 2013 and the first half of 2014, Black Star Riders recorded their second album, The Killer Instinct, released in February 2015, reaching № 13 in the UK.

[20] After the US tour, it was announced that Johnson would be leaving the band at the end of 2018 to concentrate on his solo career and session work, and would be replaced by Christian Martucci of Stone Sour.

[22] In November 2014, he debuted his own hard rock trio featuring bass guitarist Tony Nagy and ex-Whiskey Falls drummer Jarred Pope, and performed several shows in the US during April 2015.

"[25] During September and October 2018, Johnson performed another series of acoustic shows in the UK and Europe alongside Ricky Warwick, supported by Gill Montgomery of The Amorettes.

The self-produced album was issued on Johnson's own Double Dragon Records imprint and was co-written with longtime friend Jim "Johnny Blade" Troglen.

After the first couple of shows, he stated, "It was an honor to lend a hand to the band this weekend, and my family is sending buckets of healing energy [in] Gary's direction.