Influential Austin Artist Daniel Johnston Dead At 58

AUSTIN, TX — Influential singer-songwriter and visual artist Daniel Johnston — who also created the iconic “Hi How Are You” frog mural on the Drag — died Tuesday night following a heart attack, according to reports. He was 58 years old.

Born on Jan. 22, 1961, Johnston loomed large in the outsider, lo-fi and alternative music scenes, with the lion's share of his discography recorded on cassette tapes recorded in his home. Arguably the most enchanting aspect of Johnston's presence was a child-like approach that lent to the purity of his art.

Born in California, he made Austin his home decades ago — gradually acquiring a sizable following in the 1980s when he would pass out his cassette tapes while working at a McDonald's restaurant in his adopted hometown. His renown reached artists that included the late Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, who was once seen wearing a T-shirt with artwork from Johnson's 1983 album "Hi How Are You."

Johnston's art was informed by his stints in psychiatric hospitals after diagnoses of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. His implausible trajectory despite such odds was the subject of a 2005 documentary titled "The Devil and Daniel Johnston."

In this Friday, Jan. 9, 2004, file photo, carpenter Lee Blair carries a ladder near a well-known mural of a frog-like creature saying "Hi, How Are You," in Austin, Texas. According to an arrest affidavit, 32-year-old Rebecca Guest was arrested Christmas Eve and charged with a Class A misdemeanor after police saw her defacing the mural, which was painted by Texas singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston. An obscene word was spray-painted several times on the mural. (AP Photo/Harry Cabluck, File)

Tributes poured in on Twitter as news of Johnston's death spread: