Blues Guitarist Will Johns: Born Into Rock, Saved by the Blues

Aug 03, 2026

Will has just released his sixth studio album, On Top of the World, and this September he will publish his deeply personal memoir, Bluesdaddy: Born into Noise, Raised on Chaos and Saved by the Blues.

The title says it all.

Will was born into one of rock music’s most legendary families. He is the son of famed producer and engineer Andy Johns, whose work can be heard on classic albums by Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones. His uncle is legendary producer and engineer Glyn Johns, and his mother is Paula Boyd, making him the nephew of Pattie Boyd and Jenny Boyd.

That also meant George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Mick Fleetwood were family. Eric wasn’t simply one of the greatest guitarists in history—he was “Uncle Eric,” and the man who inspired Will to play guitar.

But Bluesdaddy isn’t a story about celebrity. It is a story about growing up surrounded by brilliance and addiction, fame and dysfunction, and ultimately finding salvation through the blues.

Today, Will has built an impressive legacy of his own. He has been nominated for Best Original Blues Song at the British Blues Awards three years in a row, was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in Chicago in 2025, and is currently touring with The Cream of Clapton Band. This September, he will also perform at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival in Texas.

In our conversation, we talk about what it was really like growing up inside one of rock’s most famous families—and how Will found his own voice as an artist.