Background and career
Jon Gordon Langseth Jr. (born January 29, 1981), known as Jonny Lang, is an American blues, gospel, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has recorded five albums that have charted on the top 50 of the Billboard 200 chart and won a Grammy Award for his 2006 album Turn Around.
Jonny Lang was born Jon Gordon Langseth Jr. in Fargo, North Dakota and is of Norwegian descent. He started playing the guitar for his friends at age 12. He played a wide variety of music. He also performed a rendition of Jimi Hendrix's version of the National Anthem. Soon after his father took him to see the Bad Medicine Blues Band, one of the few blues bands in Fargo, Lang started taking guitar lessons from Ted Larsen, the band's guitar player. Several months after Lang began, he joined the band, which was then renamed Kid Jonny Lang & The Big Bang. Two years later, A&M Records, who had signed Janet Jackson and Soundgarden, was invited to come to see him at a live performance at Bunkers Bar in Minneapolis, and he was signed to the label in 1996, becoming the latest in a trend of young blues guitarists that then included Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Derek Trucks. The band moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and independently released the album Smokin' when Lang was 14. He released Lie to Me on January 28, 1997 and its title track would go on to become his most successful. The next album, Wander this World, was released on October 20, 1998, and earned a Grammy nomination. This was followed by the more soulful Long Time Coming on October 14, 2003. Lang also made a cover of Edgar Winter's "Dying to Live". Lang's 2006 album, the gospel-influenced Turn Around, won him his first Grammy Award. In his earliest performing years, Lang always performed barefoot on stage because "it feels good" and once in tribute to Luther Allison, a friend who had recently died. Lang made a cameo appearance in the 1998 film Blues Brothers 2000, as a janitor. In 1999, he was invited to play at the White House for President Bill Clinton and the first lady, Hillary Clinton. On September 17, 2013, Lang released his first studio album in seven years, Fight for My Soul. Signs was released in September 2017. As of 2017, Lang's band line up was Barry Alexander on drums, Jim Anton on bass, Tyrus Sass on keyboards and Zane Carney on rhythm guitar. On January 12, 2021, Lang announced that all confirmed concert dates were canceled until further notice because of a medical issue that affects Lang's singing.
On his pedalboard for his 2014 tour was the Analog Man King of Tone, a Whirlwind The Bomb boost, a Visual Sound V2 Route 808, a Fulltone Ultimate Octave, a JAM Pedals Tube Dreamer, and a Boss AW-3 Dynamic Wah. On this tour, he played his Custom Shop Tele and the 1958 reissue Custom Shop Gibson Les Paul through a pair of modified Fender ’65 Deluxe Reverb amps. The guitar featured on the cover of Lie to Me is not a Telecaster but an original Fender Esquire. Upon filming the music video for the title track "Lie to Me" which took place in a San Francisco music store, the store owner suggested Lang play the Esquire in the video. Lang fell in love with the guitar and it was purchased and given to him as a gift. He continues to use it, but not as often as his Custom Shop Telecaster and Signature Series Les Paul.
Lang married former Kids Incorporated cast member Haylie Johnson on June 8, 2001, making him the brother-in-law of actress Ashley Johnson. Lang and his wife share the same birthday, although she is one year older. They live in Los Angeles and have five children. They separated in 2025. Lang has two older sisters, Stephanie and Heidi Jo. He has one younger sister, Jessica "Jesse" Langseth, who was a contestant on season 8 of American Idol.
Lang became a Christian in 2000. In an interview with Sara Groves in Christianity Today, Lang gave details about his conversion, assuring her that he had had a supernatural experience with the Holy Ghost. In his own words, he has said that he formerly "hated Christianity" and "despised the things of God", but now he wants to share with others about Jesus' love. The songs "Only a Man" and "Thankful" from his album Turn Around, are about his belief in God. He has also co-written a couple of songs with contemporary Christian music artist Steven Curtis Chapman, including "My Love Remains".
Smokin' (1995) Lie to Me (1997) Wander This World (1998) Long Time Coming (2003) Turn Around (2006) Fight for My Soul (2013) Signs (2017)
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
