johnny rodgers was born and grew up in miami, fl. musical performance and stage productions were things he really liked early in life (and still does!). he attributes his grandmother's piano playing side by side as what started him down the music path as a youngster. grandma brown, who always wanted to be a ziegfeld girl, picked out melodies on the piano for four-year-old johnny to sing. "k-k-k-katy, beautiful katy/you're the only g-g-g-girl that i adore" (geoffrey o'hara) rang through the rodgers house in what one can only imagine were tenuous high pitched tones. beginning in 7th grade, then high school, johnny took ballet, tap (his parents set up a piece of plywood on the grass so he could practice) and jazz dance, voice, and finally found his way back to piano. his teacher, mrs. warren, assigned bach. johnny would show up with "the root beer rag" by billy joel or an elton john number. every year he'd perform in musicals. paula wayne, who'd starred in golden boy (lee adams/charles strouse) with sammy davis jr., was a valued mentor. at carnegie mellon pre-college summer program, johnny wrote his first song, "we may be young, but we're not blind". he still excels in love songs.