In 2005, a documentary about a man named Daniel Johnston came out called ‘The Devil and Daniel Johnston.’ Johnston was a singer and songwriter who suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He became famous in the ‘80s from passing out his tapes while he worked at McDonald’s. This is the crazy story about the ups and downs of Daniel’s career and the people he met throughout the way. There are plenty of sad, exciting, and happy stories to hear; all very interesting.
Daniel Johnston, Kurt Cobain / Sony Classic/Kobal/Shutterstock
Towards the end of Daniel’s life, he was relatively well known, touring all over the world. He had become famous, but anyone who saw him performing for the first time ever usually didn’t know how to react. While a lot of people didn’t understand his music, Matt Groening seemed to. After one of his concerts, Matt Groening appeared backstage and went on to praise Daniel’s work. Daniel told Groening about how he would love to make some music for his TV show, The Simpsons, and Groening agreed with him. After Groening left Daniel’s dressing room, you see Daniel jumping with excitement. This is just one example of the impression that Daniel and his disease left on the people he met throughout this journey.