Los Angeles, CA (August 31, 2026) Known for his buttery blondes and a technique for highlighting hair with more precision that he called chunking, Brad Johns died on August 27. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer while writing his memoir, “Dye: A Memoir of Art, Music, Faith, Family, and Hair Color,” which he co-wrote with longtime friend Marianne Dougherty.
Brad’s memoir is a deeply personal account of his struggles with crippling depression and suicidal ideation that began in childhood. Growing up, the only thing that saved him was his grandmother’s unconditional love and the music of Laura Nyro.
Born in 1955, Brad grew up in a housing project in Pittsburgh. After graduating from high school, he moved to New York to attend NYU, where he studied acting at the Stella Adler School of Acting. Deciding that while he was a good actor, he’d never be a great one, he dropped out after a year and enrolled in beauty school, where he found his calling.
Before social media, Brad became famous the old-fashioned way. Armed with sheer talent and the determination to become one of the best hair colorists in the world, he honed his craft at some of the finest salons in Manhattan: Cinandre, Jean Louis David, Clive Summers, and Bruno Dessange. Don Matthews, who had worked in the laboratory at Clairol before becoming Color Director at Clive Summers, became a mentor.
Then came his collaboration with Oribe, arguably the top editorial and celebrity stylist in the country. When Elizabeth Arden built an opulent salon for him in 1991, Oribe asked Brad to be Color Director. The two were on the same page when it came to frosting, a popular technique for highlighting hair: they hated it. “When he told me that he thought hair color should look artistic, I knew we had the same aesthetic,” Brad recalled in his memoir. “For me, hair color is an art form, and I was working on a technique for highlighting hair with more precision. Oribe came up with the name chunking to describe my technique for placing lighter pieces in big chunks around the face so it resembled the way a child’s hair looked after a summer at the beach.”
Brad was still perfecting his technique when Oribe introduced him to model Christy Turlington. She had never colored her hair, so Brad knew not to frighten her by doing flashy, conspicuous chunks. Instead, he created twelve modest quarter-inch chunks, mostly around her face. She loved the subtle caramel highlights so much that she asked him to go bolder the next time. When word got out that she had taken the plunge, all the other models followed suit. Before long, Brad was doing 40 clients a day.
By now, Brad had a stable of celebrity clients, including Johnny Depp, Natasha Richardson, and, most notably, Carolyn Bessette, who had not yet met her future husband, John F. Kennedy, Jr. Having perfected his chunking technique, he used it to create the buttery blonde shade that became her signature look. The two had become close friends, and when Brad opened his eponymous salon in the Takashimaya Building on Fifth Avenue in 1996, Carolyn came to the grand opening.
Brad lived a life defined by beauty, creativity, humor, generosity, and an unmistakable point of view. Whether through his work, his art, or simply the way he moved through the world, he left an impression on everyone who knew him.
