Dean Johnson (1961–2007) was an American entertainer. Father was a preacher (in Iowa?). Dean moved to study film at NYU, lived in the dorm and frequented Ninth Circle bar, aged 19. A cross-dressing musician, party promoter, and prominent figure in the nightlife scene of New York City in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, he was known for his towering height, shaved head, giant sunglasses, and penchant for wearing short cocktail dresses that exaggerated the length of his pale, lithe figure. Johnson played a seminal role in the emergence of the

Queercore Queercore (or homocore) is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock. It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifical ...

gay rock-and-roll subculture in the East Village.

Music career

Both an underground rock star and a porn star, Dean Johnson fronted two bands: Dean and the Weenies and the Velvet Mafia. He partied with art-world luminaries like

Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual language". Much of his wor ...

Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved fame as part of the graffiti duo SAMO, alongside Al ...

, and

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

, and performed at nightclubs such as

Area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape A shape or figure is a graphics, graphical representation of an obje ...

Danceteria Danceteria was a nightclub that operated in New York City from 1979 until 1986 and in the Hamptons until 1995. The club operated in various locations over the years, a total of three in New York City and four in the Hamptons. The most famous locati ...

, The Cat Club, and the

Pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

. Johnson was the driving force behind the ground-breaking Rock and Roll Fag Bar party, held Tuesday nights in the late 1980s at

The World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

. He subsequently produced the monthly HomoCorps live music showcase at

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

, which featured gay and transgender rock-and-roll bands.

Death

Johnson grappled with drug addiction and was a

sex worker A sex worker is a person who provides sex work, either on a regular or occasional basis. The term is used in reference to those who work in all areas of the sex industry.Oxford English Dictionary, "sex worker" According to one view, sex work is d ...

. He died at age 46 from an apparent drug overdose while working in a Washington, D.C. apartment. There is some suspicion around his death, stemming from the fact that another man had died with the same John two days prior.

References

External links

Guide to the Dean Johnson Papers at NYU Special Collections

Velvet Mafia band page

Dean and the Weenies Myspace Music Page

Dean and the Weenies Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Dean 1961 births 2007 deaths American drag queens American male prostitutes Drug-related deaths in Washington, D.C. Nightlife in New York City 20th-century American LGBT people 21st-century American LGBT people