Kelly Johnson (guitarist)

Kelly Johnson
Background information
Birth name	Bernadette Jean Johnson
Born	20 June 1958 Edmonton, London, England
Origin	English
Died	15 July 2007 (aged 49)
Genres	Heavy metal, rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, guitarist, singer, songwriter, environmentalist, social worker
Instruments	Electric guitar, vocals, bass, piano
Years active	1978–2000
Labels	Bronze Records, Communiqué
Associated acts	Girlschool, World’s Cutest Killers
Website	Kelly Johnson tribute page
Notable instruments
Gibson Les Paul Gold Top Tiger striped Aria RS

Bernadette Jean "Kelly" Johnson (20 June 1958 – 15 July 2007) was an English guitarist, widely known in the UK in the early 1980s as the lead guitarist of the all-female British heavy metal band Girlschool.

Johnson started playing piano after her father when five years old and switched to guitar at twelve. She attended Edmonton County School in Edmonton, which is in North London, and part of the London Borough of Enfield, where she discovered rock music and played bass and piano in school bands. She went back to guitar and was already writing and playing her own material when she met her future bandmates at the age of 19. After her first encounter with Kim McAuliffe and Enid Williams in April 1978, she was immediately accepted in the ranks of the new band formed from the ashes of the group Painted Lady, which took the name of Girlschool.

Girlschool full-on raucous guitar playing, tousled, leather-clad looks (and what one reviewer described as "stiletto in the groin" attitude) soon won the band a cult following, giving them a high rank in the exploding new wave of British heavy metal phenomenon, thanks also to their strong relationship with contemporaries Motörhead. Johnson and McAuliffe drinking bouts were otherwise memorable as much as their fast ascension to headliner band.

Johnson was a songwriter, playing lead guitar and singing both lead and backing vocals on the group's first four albums. She provided both a strong visual focus for the band with her tall figure and blonde hair and an excellent musical contribution with her trenchant guitar playing. On hearing Johnson's riffs on 'Race With the Devil' Rock guitarist Jeff Beck was quoted "There's no way that's a girl playing" a remark described by the DJ John Peel as the most sexist comment he had ever heard. Whislt Lemmy of Motörhead declared "I thought they were f*cking great. I got them on the tour in the first place and everybody else went like, 'Ugh, girls,' and I said, 'f*ck you, they're as good as you.' Kelly Johnson, on a good day, is as good as Jeff Beck in his rock & roll days. She's a fucking brilliant guitar player." 20070716

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