Naomi Johnson recently appearance on an episode of the God’s Country podcast, where she shared an exciting life update and spoke candidly about her unique upbringing. From growing up on a school bus with nine siblings, to joining cults, surviving a near-death experience during childbirth, and more, the songstress shares stories that are as shocking as they are unforgettable.
On top of giving an in-depth look at her childhood and her journey in the music industry, Johnson announces she and her husband Martin are expecting baby number two and discusses the stories behind some of her latest releases, including the powerful tune about motherhood, “Mama Ain’t Jesus.”
Keep reading to find the top 10 most shocking things Naomi Johnson revealed in the interview that fans may not have known about her before.
- She is pregnant with her second baby
In 2023, Johnson and her husband, Martin Johnson, lead singer of The Night Game and Boys Like Girls, celebrated the arrival of their first daughter, who recently turned two years old. Now, the pair are preparing to welcome their second child but have not revealed the gender.
“I’m happy because I’m having a baby. I’m pregnant,” she told podcast hosts Reid and Dan.
2. She almost died giving birth to her first child
Although the parents have kept their daughter’s name under wraps, Johnson has openly shared details of the difficult journey with her first pregnancy. She admits that this scary experience left her with an eye-opening realization about the kind of legacy she wants to leave behind for her kids.
“I was like, if I had died…[and] she wanted to go and listen to my music, she would’ve heard these selling t-shirts and beer songs, and she would never know anything about me ever. She’d never know who I am as a mother, a wife, a friend, a daughter. She’s blonde hair and blue eyed. She could not look in the mirror and see her Cherokee heritage like I can. And it just became so important to me that I not be afraid to talk, to tell my story through music.”
3. She has two “huge” scars on her thigh from running into a barbed wire fence
Johnson revealed that the injury occurred after her sister was chasing her with a stick. She had just learned how to ride a bike at the time, ended up losing control and steering into the fence while running away from her sibling.
4. She grew up on a school bus with her nine siblings and two parents
She is no stranger to living on a bus. Spending the majority of her time now on a tour bus as a country star has made her realizes that “life prepares you for life,” as she recalls once living on a crammed school bus at a young age.
“I lived on a school bus with my nine brothers and sisters and my two parents, and then my profession, I ended up on a bus with nine people,” she explained. “It felt more like home to me than maybe some other people. But I mean, way nicer bus, let’s be real. This is way nicer.”
5. Her dad made her and her siblings eat a squirrel after killing it
Growing up, Johnson remembers her father being a hunter and having a deep appreciation for the sport. As a result, he made sure that his kids understood what that meant, even if they had to learn a few tough lessons along the way.
“I remember we came back from playing down by the creek and we had shot a squirrel, and it was dead. And we all came back, ‘Oh, we got a squirrel, dad.’ And he made us clean it and eat it… He was like, ‘you do not just kill animals for fun. That’s not what we do. That’s not respectful.’ He was very sportsmanlike like that.”
6. She has had the rare experience of seeing a mother moose and two babies near her home in Utah
As a lover of wide open spaces, Johnson has settled down among the stunning setting of Utah with her husband and daughter. Along with that also comes frequent wildlife encounters.
“There’s literally a mother moose with two babies that come down to drink out of our creek a couple times a week…So Native American culture, when you see an animal you’re meant to, it’s a message. You’re being told something. And so moose are strength and courage and moving forward and all that type of a thing. But to see a mother with babies means new life, tenderness, youthful,” she shared.
7. Her song, “Mama Ain’t Jesus” offers a glimpse into the realities of being a mother
The songstress admits that having a child of her own now, she has discovered that if anyone put her child in danger, there’s nothing that would hold her back from doing what she had to do to protect her young. This tune powerfully captures that instinct while acknowledging that while moms do their best, they’re not perfect.
“You see moms out grocery shopping or somewhere, somewhere out in the wild, and they look so vulnerable sometimes with their kids and they’re distracted and just kind of looks like someone could hurt that really easily. But the mistake that you would make is just under that distracted shopper is a one-woman assassin. And I felt that come alive in me when I became a mom. And I carry, and I’m very proud of that. I’m very proud of my right to carry.”
8. Her Cherokee heritage goes back nine generations in East Tennessee.
While Johnson is proud to be an “all-American girl,” the older she gets, the more important it is for her to celebrate her indigenousness roots. This part of her life was strongly instilled in her as a girl and is now being told through her authentic songwriting.
“It was always fun knowing that we were Indians when we were kids cause we were buck wild. We loved being outside. And we could feel it in a way,” she shared. “But it was just a fun thing. It was not important to me to bring it into my life and my identity and my music like it is now.”
9. She and her family were members of multiple cults
Johnson revealed that her parents, who she described as “vulnerable” and “naïve” led the family into several cults during her childhood. In one, leaders demanded they kill the family dog because it was considered “unclean.” After witnessing disturbing practices and abuse, her father eventually pulled the family out and led them to a second cult in Tennessee where they stayed for a year.
“We get approached by this guy with a Bible in his back pocket and weird clothes and long ponytail. My parents were very, they still are, my dad’s gone now, but they’re very spiritually lost and very spiritually vulnerable. They both had hard home lives. My parents are just really, really naive. So they follow this guy back to this cult. We end up staying there,” she recalled. “I mean, there was some super sketchy stuff. A lot of child abuse goes on in those places. It’s very young girls are being married off, they don’t talk. If there’s any type of sexual abuse going on and someone reports it, the cops come, no one will talk to them. It’s the same with Amish.”
“So we left that place in the middle of the night, and I remember…this group running out and trying to pull the propane tanks off of our camper,” she added.
10. Her brother robbed 13 banks at 17 years old
While living off the grid in the woods, the FBI found Johnson and her family and informed them that her brother was wanted for string of bank robberies. She explained that the robberies occurred while he was staying back home in Virginia with family friends. Although this was certainly shocking, Johnson revealed that her brother always had a wild side and even ran away from home at 14 years old.
“They were looking for a family, and they had a suspect for a string of bank robberies that had happened in Virginia. And it was my brother…The FBI found my parents, they were like, he is one of one suspects and they have some footage of him. They didn’t have him yet, but my parents were like, that’s our kid. You could tell way he walks or whatever,” she explained. “He passed away. So he went to prison. That was crazy. My parents, that ruined their marriage. So my mom wanted him to take the money and run. And my dad wanted him to turn himself in and he ended up turning himself in.”
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