Robert White Johnson is an American songwriter and musician, based on Nashville, best known for co-writing "

Where Does My Heart Beat Now "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" is a song recorded by Canadian singer Celine Dion for her ninth studio album, and first English-language album, ''Unison'' (1990). It was released by Columbia Records as the third single from ''Unison'' in Canada o ...

", which was a major hit for

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

. Rick Moore
Nashville Songwriter Series: Robert White Johnson
''

American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...

'', January 3, 2011. Retrieved 2016-04-15.

History

Robert White Johnson is a native of

Moline, Illinois Moline ( ) is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in 2020, it is the largest city in Rock Island County. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island ...

, where he commenced his career as a professional musician, playing drums. He originally went to Nashville at the behest of

Dottie West Dorothy Marie Marsh West (October 11, 1932 – September 4, 1991) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Along with her friends and fellow recording artists Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, she is considered one of the genre's most in ...

, who was interested in developing Johnson's pop music career. He later became a staff writer for

Tree Publishing {{Short description, American music publishing company Tree International Publishing was a major music publisher, based in Nashville. As the last major music publisher that was owned and operated in Nashville, it was sold to the Sony Music, CBS Rec ...

. While continuing as a staff writer with Tree Publishing, in 1981 Johnson co-founded, with bass and keyboard player

Jimmie Lee Sloas Jimmie Lee Sloas is an American session musician, producer, and songwriter, who plays bass guitar. History Jimmie Lee Sloas, born in Ashland, Kentucky, grew up in Fairborn, Ohio and Isonville, Kentucky. His father, Dave, was a member of the po ...

the rock band

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

, where Johnson was the lead singer. The band released two albums and had a modest AOR hit single, "A Legend Never Dies". The group's albums were produced by

Brent Maher Brent Maher is a producer, engineer, and songwriter currently residing in Nashville, Tennessee. He has produced and engineered six Grammy-winning records and received awards from the CMA, ACM, CCMA, ASCAP, SOCAN and NSAI. Maher engineered ...

and

Gary Langan Gary Michael Langan (born 19 April 1956) is an English engineer, record producer, mixer and musician. Biography His career started at age 18 when he worked as an assistant engineer at Sarm East Studios, learning the craft from Gary Lyons and M ...

, respectively. After the band folded, Johnson concentrated on his staff songwriting position, before becoming an independent songwriter and producer as of the mid-1990s. He has contributed songs, production or both to such bands as the

Beach Boys A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

, Peter Wolf, B.J. Thomas, Lynyrd Skynyrd,

38 Special 38 Special may refer to: * .38 Special The .38 Special, also commonly known as .38 S&W Special (not to be confused with .38 S&W), .38 Smith & Wesson Special, .38 Spl, .38 Spc, (pronounced "thirty-eight special"), or 9x29mmR is a rimmed, cent ...

, Van ZantProducing a co-writing songs on '' Brother to Brother'' (1998) and '' Van Zant II'' (2001). and

. He is also a songwriter and producer of popular Christian music. In 1996, he won a Dove Award as producer of the Inspirational Album of The Year, ''Unbelievable Love'', by

Larnelle Harris Larnelle Steward Harris (born July 6, 1947) is an American gospel singer and songwriter. During his 40-plus years of ministry, Harris has recorded 18 albums, won five Grammy Awards and 11 Dove Awards, and has had several number one songs on the ...

. Johnson is also a successful writer and performer of

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

References

External links

* https://www.robertwhitejohnson.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Robert White Songwriters from Tennessee People from Moline, Illinois Songwriters from Illinois Possibly living people Year of birth missing