Johnson is best known for being one of the original members of the Motown R&B vocal group The Contours.

[5] Shortly after the renaming, Berry Gordy signed the group on to his new recording company Motown.

The group also achieved success with the songs "Shake Sherry" and "That Day When She Needed Me" in 1963 and 1964.

[6][7] In 1964, within a matter of two weeks, Johnson along with Billingslea, Gordon, Hoggs and Contours newcomer Sylvester Potts decided to part from Motown.

The official cause of death was ruled to be suicide by the ingesting of rat poison and a self-inflicted gun shot wound to the head.