{"id":13766,"date":"2026-07-22T17:48:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T12:48:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=13766"},"modified":"2026-07-22T17:48:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T12:48:45","slug":"plas-johnson-saxophonist-behind-pink-panther-theme-dead-at-94","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=13766","title":{"rendered":"Plas Johnson, Saxophonist Behind &#8216;Pink Panther Theme,&#8217; Dead at 94"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tAmerican jazz saxophonist Plas Johnson, known for recording with artists like Frank Sinatra and B.B. King, died last week at 94. Johnson\u2019s death was reported in his Louisiana hometown newspaper, the\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.donaldsonvillechief.com\/story\/news\/local\/2026\/07\/20\/donaldsonville-native-plas-johnson-famous-musician-dies-at-age-94\/90990432007\/\"><em>Donaldsonville Chief<\/em><\/a>, and dated July 15.\u00a0No cause of death was given. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tJohnson, who hailed from Donaldsonville, Louisiana, was most famous for his contribution to the \u201cThe Pink Panther Theme,\u201d which he recorded in 1963 alongside composer Henry Mancini as part of the soundtrack for Blake Edwards\u2019 comedy film <em>The Pink Panther<\/em>. The song won three Grammy Awards and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Score at the 37th Academy Awards.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cWe only did two takes, I think,\u201d Johnson once said of the song, according to the <em>Donaldsonville Chief<\/em>. \u201cWhen we finished, everyone applauded, even the string players.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Pink Panther Theme\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VyZiIuMufTA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThroughout his career, Johnson performed on numerous songs, including recordings for the Beach Boys, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Otis, Ella Fitzgerald, Marvin Gaye, and Nat King Cole. Born on July 21, 1931 in Donaldsonville, Johnson began his musical career singing with his family. His father later bought him a saxophone and he made his recording debut in 1950 alongside his brother Ray for DeLuxe Records. He also toured with singer and pianist Charles Brown.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tJohnson moved to Los Angeles in 1954 after his Army service, where he became a prolific session musician. He was a regular in Mancini\u2019s orchestra in the 1950s and 1960s, and began playing in Merv Griffin\u2019s studio band on the <em>Merv Griffin Show<\/em> in 1970. He was well regarded for his saxphone solos, which often elevated a piece.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cMy solos always seemed to bring the record up another notch,\u201d Johnson <a href=\"https:\/\/concord.com\/artist\/red-holloway\/\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a>. \u201cI could do that in eight bars, I could do that in twelve bars, and I was used to maybe do fills behind the vocalist after that.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Help Me, Rhonda (Single Version\/Remastered 2001)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JaHAf0fFp6A?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tIn the 1970s and 1980s, Johnson appeared on recordings by Bette Midler, Carole King, Aaron Neville, Linda Ronstadt, Boz Scaggs, and Rod Stewart. Although he was ostensibly a jazz musican, he often veered into other genres, including rock and pop. More recently, he worked with Joni Mitchell on her 2002 LP, <em>Travelogue<\/em>.  <\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules trending-in-article lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tAs a solo artist, Johnson released several albums and compilations. In 1959 he released <em>This Must Be the Plas!<\/em> via Capital Records and in 1975 he shared <em>The Blues<\/em> on Concord Jazz, both well received by critics and fans. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tJohnson\u2019s work was documented in 2008 film <em>The Wrecking Crew<\/em>, a documentary about session musicians working in Los Angeles in the 1960s and 1970s directed by Denny Tedesco. As the film depicts, he left an indelible mark on the music landscape, which was often only celebrated behind the scenes. Johnson will be remembered both for his famous contributions, but also for the many he made that have largely gone unrecognized. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Plas Johnson - Parking Lot Blues (Official Audio)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MKAFaWeI47I?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>American jazz saxophonist Plas Johnson, known for recording with artists like Frank Sinatra and B.B. King, died last week at 94. Johnson\u2019s death was reported in his Louisiana hometown newspaper, the\u00a0Donaldsonville Chief, and dated July 15.\u00a0No cause of death was given. Johnson, who hailed from Donaldsonville, Louisiana, was most famous for his contribution to the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-167630202-1.jpg?w=1600&h=900&crop=1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-gossip"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}