Jonny Lang
The Prodigy
December 1999  Issue 263

Nineties rarity: Singer and guitarist Lang has managed to sell more than 1.5 million albums (with 1997's Lie to Me and 1998's Wander This World) as a teen-ager - without ever having been a Mouseketeer.

Natural wonder: Born in 1981, in Casselton, N.D., Lang (ne' Langseth) didn't pick up a guitar till age 13, when his dad, a farmer, took him to see a friend's band in Fargo.  The band's guitarist, Ted Larsen, agreed to give Lang lessons.  Within five months, Lang was fronting the group.

The wonder years: At 18, Lang has already been around the world several times, opening for such acts as Aerosmith, the Rolling Stones, Buddy Guy and B.B. King.
 
Photo by Jeff Riedel

Are groupies a problem?  "There's certainly a lot of people out there who want to get to him," says his manager, James Klein.  "But he's a good old Midwestern farm boy.  He's got very high ethics."  And, until recently, he had a steady girlfriend, actress Haylie Johnson, 19, who appeared in his second video, for "Missing Your Love." ("We're still really good friends," he says.)

Personal growth: Six feet two inches tall, Lang has recently filled out to 150 pounds.  Now, he says, "I don't look that disproportionate."

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