William Johns (born 2 October 1936) is an American tenor who sang leading roles in the opera houses of Europe and the United States in a career spanning more than 25 years.
Several of his live performances in Germany and Italy during the 1970s have been preserved on CD, including the title roles in Alfano's Cyrano de Bergerac and Mercadante's Il bravo.
[4] He sang in five productions the Bayreuth Festival, initially in smaller roles such as 2nd noble of Brabant in Lohengrin (1968), 4th Esquire in Parsifal (1969), and Augustin Moser in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1968 and 1969), but returned there in 1987 in the leading role of Walther von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger (one performance).
He later returned there as Walther von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger (1977), Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos (1981), and the title role in Otello (1985).
He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1979 as Don José in Carmen and went on to appear there in 28 performances through 1993, primarily in dramatic tenor and Wagnerian roles.