Dean Johnson

Born in Mankato, Minnesota, and grew up in Edina, near Minneapolis. He attended college at the University of Minnesota, where he earned a bachelor's degree in accounting. Dean worked as a cost accountant, a sales representative, and an independent builder before launching Hometime Video Publishing in 1984.

Both an underground rock star and a porn star, Dean Johnson fronted two bands: Dean and the Weenies and the Velvet Mafia. He partied with art-world luminaries like Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Andy Warhol, and performed at nightclubs such as Area, Danceteria, The Cat Club, and the Pyramid. Johnson was the driving force behind the ground-breaking Rock and Roll Fag Bar party, held Tuesday nights in the late 1980s at The World. He subsequently produced the monthly HomoCorps live music showcase at CBGB, which featured gay and transgender rock-and-roll bands.

Dean Johnson (1961–2007) was a cross-dressing musician, party promoter, and prominent figure in the nightlife scene of New York City in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. Known for his towering height, shaved head, giant sunglasses, and penchant for wearing short cocktail dresses that exaggerated the length of his pale, lithe figure, Johnson played a seminal role in the emergence of the Queercore gay rock-and-roll subculture in the East Village.