His 1990 album Ah Via Musicom was certified platinum by the RIAA, and the single "Cliffs of Dover" won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

[1] He plays many musical genres, including rock, blues, jazz fusion, soul, folk, new-age, classical, and country.

[3] Born into a musically inclined family, Eric Johnson and his three sisters studied piano, while his father was a whistling enthusiast.

Johnson started learning the guitar at age 11 and rapidly progressed while listening to the musicians who would heavily influence his future style, including Mike Bloomfield, Chet Atkins, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Ric Bailey, Wes Montgomery, Jerry Reed, Bob Dylan, and Django Reinhardt, among others.

[2][4][5][6][7] After graduating from high school, Johnson briefly attended the University of Texas at Austin and traveled with his family to Africa.

The strength of Johnson's playing, however, attracted a small cult following to the group's early recordings, and decades later, their two albums were given wide release on compact disc.

[10][11] Unable to secure a new management contract, Johnson began working as a session guitarist for some well-known acts, including Cat Stevens,[12] Carole King, and Christopher Cross.

The article helped promote the release of Tones and brought Johnson critical praise, as well as elevating his profile in the guitar and music community.

[15] By the time Johnson released his 1990 Capitol Records debut album, Ah Via Musicom, he was regularly winning awards for his musicianship in the guitar press.

During this period, Johnson also drew recognition for the rich, violin-like lead sound he coaxed from his beloved 1954 Fender Stratocaster, which he named Virginia.

The album's second track, "Cliffs of Dover", exemplified his unique sound and won Johnson a 1991 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

[1][21] His December 1988 Austin City Limits performance was released on both DVD and compact disc on New West Records in November 2005.

In 1994, he formed a side project called Alien Love Child and played shows sporadically while recording Venus Isle.

[24][25][26] Alien Love Child featured the vocal prowess of Malford Milligan, an Austin-area musician who fronted the local band Storyville, made up of members of Stevie Ray Vaughan's Double Trouble.

In 1998, Johnson was among the judges in Musician magazine's "Best Unsigned Bands" competition, along with Ani DiFranco, Moby, Art Alexakis of Everclear, Keb' Mo', and Joe Perry of Aerosmith.

Johnson appeared as part of Guitar Player magazine's Ultimate Musician's Fantasy Camp in Las Vegas in February 2014, with guitarists Joe Perry, Steve Vai, Elliot Easton, Michael Anthony, and others.

[32] Johnson and fellow guitarist Mike Stern kicked off their Eclectic Guitar Tour on November 6, 2014,[33] and released an album supporting it on October 27, 2014.

Johnson has also played other guitar brands such as Robin, Rickenbacker, Jackson, Maton, and Charvel, one of which appears on the cover of the Ah Via Musicom album.

It featured the same specifications as the Eric Johnson Maple Neck guitar, but with the addition of an unusual three-ply, eight-hole white pick guard, hotter treble pickup, and a bound rosewood laminated fingerboard with pearloid dot position markers.

In January 2006, a man named Brian Sparks was arrested for posing as Johnson, and in the process, defrauding businesses out of about US$18,000 worth of guitars and equipment.