Kelly Johnson (guitarist)
She wielded a Gibson SG with fierce talent, breaking ground for women in the male-dominated world of hard rock.
1958–2007 (age 49)·English guitarist and singer·Birthday: June 20·Baby Boomers
Biography
Kelly Johnson was the lead guitarist and occasional vocalist for Girlschool, a band that roared out of the late-1970s London scene with a no-nonsense, hard-rocking attitude. With her signature Gibson SG and a tough, melodic playing style, she was the group's musical spearhead, co-writing and powering anthems like 'Hit and Run' and 'Emergency'. Girlschool carved a vital space for themselves, not as a novelty act, but as peers to contemporaries like Motörhead, with whom they famously collaborated. Johnson's stage presence was one of unforced, gritty competence, offering a powerful alternative to the pop-oriented images of women in music at the time. Her departure from the band in the mid-1980s was a loss felt deeply by fans. After a long battle with spinal cancer, her death in 2007 cemented her status as a pioneer, remembered for the sheer force of her playing and the trail she blazed for generations of women who picked up a guitar to play loud.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Kelly was born in 1958, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Kelly Was Born
The biggest hits of 1958
#1 Movie
South Pacific
Best Picture
Gigi
#1 TV Show
Gunsmoke
Kelly's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1958Born
NASA founded
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Volare" — Domenico ModugnoBest Picture: Gigi
1963Started school
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1971Became a teenager
Voting age lowered to 18 in the US
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $18,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Joy to the World" — Three Dog NightBest Picture: The French Connection
1974Could drive
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1976Could vote
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1979Turned 21
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1988Turned 30
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1998Turned 40
Google founded; Clinton impeachment
Gas: $1.06/galHome: $107,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Too Close" — NextBest Picture: Shakespeare in Love
2007Died at 49
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
Key Achievements
- As lead guitarist for Girlschool, she co-wrote and performed on their classic early albums 'Demolition' and 'Hit and Run'.
- Played a key role in Girlschool's historic collaboration with Motörhead on the 'St. Valentine's Day Massacre' EP.
- Helped establish Girlschool as one of the first all-female hard rock bands to achieve significant critical and commercial success.
Did You Know?
She was known for her distinctive white Gibson SG guitar.
Before joining Girlschool, she was in a band called Painted Lady.
She briefly returned to Girlschool for a reunion in the early 1990s.
The song 'Don't Call It Love' from the 'Play Dirty' album features her on lead vocals.
“We just plugged in, turned it up, and played rock and roll.”
