Born near[1] Holly Springs, Mississippi,[2] the sixth child of a harmonica-playing farmer, he moved with his family in about 1950 to Chicago, where blues guitarist Magic Sam was his next-door neighbor.

[3][4] Johnson sang and played with Magic Sam and other blues artists, such as Billy Boy Arnold, Junior Wells and Howlin' Wolf, in the 1950s.

His song "Different Strokes", also from 1967, is included on the breakbeat compilation album, Ultimate Breaks and Beats (SBR 504),[5] and some years later was sampled on many hip hop tracks.

[13] In 1992, Johnson found out that his song "Different Strokes" had been sampled by several rappers, including Wu-Tang Clan, Public Enemy, Kool G Rap, Hammer, De La Soul,[14] and the Geto Boys.

[13] In 2014, he appeared in an episode of the TV One reality series R&B Divas: Atlanta, in which he offered advice and encouragement to his daughter Syleena before she gave a live performance.

[21][22] Johnson and his family appeared on the American reality television series Iyanla: Fix My Life, by the request of his daughter Syleena, to help her mother's alcohol addiction.

[23] He died of congestive heart failure, at the home of one of his daughters, in Mableton, Georgia, on February 6, 2022, at the age of 85, six days after the death of his older brother Jimmy.