John Popper

About John Popper

Who is it?: Soundtrack, Music Department, Actor
Birth Day: March 29, 1967
Birth Place:  Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Birth Sign: Aries
Birth name: John Popper
Origin: New York metropolitan area
Genres: Blues rock, alternative rock, jam band
Instruments: Vocals, harmonica, guitar
Years active: 1987–present
Labels: A&M, 429 Records, Relix
Associated acts: Blues Traveler the John Popper Project Frogwings the Duskray Troubadors

John Popper Net Worth

John Popper was born on March 29, 1967 in  Cleveland, Ohio, United States, is Soundtrack, Music Department, Actor. One of the greatest harmonica players in rock, John Popper formed his band, Blues Traveler, along with his high school friends Bobby Sheehan (bass), Chan Kinchla (guitar) and Brendan Hill (drums), in the late 80s, in New York City. They released their eponymous debut album in 1990 and hit the charts with 1994's "Four". Meanwhile, Popper started to appear as a cameo in several films: the Farrelly Brothers' Kingpin (1996) (which included a Blues Traveler performance at the end), Howard Stern's Private Parts (1997) and Blues Brothers 2000 (1998). The year 2000 was a tragic one for the band. Popper had to canceled some tour dates due to some hard pain in his chest. Then, later that year, bassist Bobby Sheehan died of a heroin overdose. That same year marked Popper first actual role in movies. He acted in the indie film, Just for the Time Being (2000), with supermodel Eva Herzigova. He also released his first solo album in 2000, "Zygote". After all that, he went through a gastric surgery to reduce his weight and Blues Traveler rejoined forces with two new members, and released the album "Bridge", a new beginning for the band.
John Popper is a member of Soundtrack

💰 Net worth: Under Review

Some John Popper images

Biography/Timeline

1948

John Popper was born in Chardon, Ohio. His father was a Hungarian immigrant who left Budapest in 1948. Through him, Popper is related to David Popper, a 19th-century European Cellist whose many solo works for the cello are staples of the instrument's repertoire. John's mother and brother are lawyers.

1986

Popper was raised in Stamford, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. He attended Davenport Ridge School, Stamford Catholic High School (now Trinity Catholic High School) and Princeton High School from which he graduated in 1986. He took lessons on the piano, the cello, and the guitar, but none of those instruments appealed to him and he hated being forced to practice.

1987

He formed several garage bands with friends in Princeton, New Jersey, one of which evolved into Blues Traveler in 1987. After graduating from high school, the group's members all moved to New York City, where Popper enrolled in The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music along with two of his bandmates and high school friend Chris Barron. Popper attended for three years but devoted himself to the band full-time once they signed a record contract in 1990.

1990

In 1990, Popper began to perform occasional solo concerts in addition to touring with Blues Traveler. Several songs that originated as Popper's solo pieces have become part of Blues Traveler's repertoire, and vice versa.

1992

In October 1992 Popper was involved in a traffic accident on a motorcycle while traveling to a studio to record for Blues Traveler's third album. The accident put him in a wheelchair for several months, but Popper continued touring with the band despite the difficulties it created.

1996

Popper had a speaking guest role in an episode of the sitcom Roseanne as a musician similar to himself. Popper appeared on Episode 30 of Space Ghost Coast to Coast as a musical guest. Popper appeared as a guest on the IFC television comedy series Z Rock. He plays a role as himself, and befriends the band ZO2, helping them get a record deal. He also played the Star-Spangled Banner prior to Game 4 of the 1996 World Series.

1997

Popper was a part of a one-time studio band brought together in 1997 by New York drummer/songwriter Solomon Deniro. Other players included Trey Gunn, Bernie Worrell, Marc Ribot, and Vernon Reid. The group's only recordings were released as the album Gimme Gimme under the name the Devotees. The same recording was re-released by Deniro in 2001 with the title Solomon.

1998

Popper took over in 1998 as front man of jam-band supergroup Frogwings, which released the live album Croakin' at Toad's. Frogwings was mainly active until 2000.

1999

In 1999, he suffered a near-fatal heart attack brought on by years of compulsive overeating. (He had been diagnosed with diabetes a few years earlier.) Doctors at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center performed an emergency angioplasty which saved Popper's life; he had 95% arterial blockage. Popper later underwent gastric bypass surgery and lost a significant amount of weight.

2000

Popper has toured with the USO, both with Blues Traveler and solo. In the mid-2000s, he toured the Middle East, performing with the Band of the Air Force Reserve and Jamie O'Neal at various military camps.

2002

Popper has developed some equipment innovations to accommodate his use of harmonicas during onstage performances. Because each individual diatonic harmonica is tuned to one particular key, he fashioned belts with enough pockets to hold harmonicas in all 12 keys (plus extras) and wore them as a bandolier, or slung over his neck. He frequently has to switch keys multiple times within one song, and this arrangement allowed him to quickly trade one harmonica for another without looking. In 2002, he stopped using the belts because they no longer fit him properly due to his weight loss it sold on pawnstars for $2700; now he carries his harmonicas in a small black attaché case. He uses a special microphone with switches that change the audio effect of the harmonica as it is played through an amplifier, similar to a guitar effects pedal. Popper was inspired by Jimi Hendrix's guitar playing to make his instrument sound however he wanted. He has fashioned a number of floppy-brimmed hats with flattened harmonica cover plates on the band, which he almost always wears during appearances with Blues Traveler.

2004

Popper is a member of the Libertarian Party, and has previously expressed support for the Republican Party. He endorsed George W. Bush in the 2004 U.S. presidential election. In November 2008, Popper said, regarding Barack Obama, "this is the first time I've voted for a Democrat, ever." John Popper was a supporter of Ron Paul during the 2012 U.S. Presidential election, even participating in phone-banking at Ron Paul's New Hampshire campaign headquarters. He also played a short set during Ron Paul's "We are the Future Rally," an alternative convention for Paul supporters which was held in Tampa the day before the 2012 Republican National Convention.

2006

Recently, Popper formed a rock/jazz/hip-hop fusion group the John Popper Project with DJ Logic, which released an album in 2006 and performs occasionally. He also performs on the album Global Noize by Jason Miles and DJ Logic (2008).

2007

In 2003, Popper was arrested for possession of marijuana. Popper was arrested again on March 6, 2007 near Ritzville, Washington by the Washington State Patrol. He was the Passenger in his own vehicle, which was stopped for speeding, and was found to be in the possession of a small amount of marijuana and weapons. Popper was released the same night. The vehicle had a stash of hidden compartments which contained four rifles, nine handguns, a switchblade knife, a Taser, a set of brass knuckles, and night vision goggles. The vehicle was temporarily seized.

2009

Popper has co-written songs with Trey Anastasio, Warren Haynes, Chris Barron, and Jonny Lang. He also frequently appears as a guest performer with Musicians both famous and obscure, from a diverse variety of genres. He has performed with, among others, jam bands Spin Doctors, Dave Matthews Band, Phish and most recently, the Allman Brothers Band in 2009; bluesmen Eric Clapton and B.B. King; singer-songwriters Jason Mraz and John Mayer; Saxophonist Karl Denson; San Francisco's Culann's Hounds; heavy metal band Metallica; rock trio ZO2 and even with the Hungarian Ambassador to the United States, András Simonyi. He sat in with the Smashing Pumpkins on the second day of their acoustic 1997 Bridge School Benefit appearance, contributing harmonica for their song "Porcelina of the Vast Oceans"; Popper's solo garnered major applause from the audience. He also performed with the Grateful Dead at a tribute to Bill Graham in 1991. He was the harmonica player on Hanson's album This Time Around in 2000, for which he performed on "If Only" and "In The City."

2011

He has been a recurring guest on Howard Stern's and Bill Maher's shows and sits in with the CBS Orchestra on the Late Show with David Letterman on occasion. In 2009, he sat in with the Roots on an episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Popper performed "Something Sweet" with the Duskray Troubadours on the TBS show "Lopez Tonight" on March 1, 2011. He also sat in with the house band for the closing number of the show.

2015

John Popper has expressed a preference for the Hohner Special 20 brand blues harp, calling them "the Porsche of harmonicas." Since 2015 he uses mainly his own signature harmonicas manufactured by Fender. Popper uses Shure microphones and Mesa Boogie amplifiers, similar to bandmate Chan Kinchla. He also uses D'Addario strings.

2016

Most recently, Popper performed his hits "Run-Around" and "Hook", as well as a rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner", alongside Greensky Bluegrass for the Bernie Sanders: A Future to Believe In rally at Safeco Field in Seattle on March 25, 2016.