Steve William Johnson, drummer for the band Alabama Shakes, has been arrested for allegedly participating in child abuse and is currently awaiting bail. According to Stereogum’s Instagram post, reports from WHNT stated, Johnson was arrested on charges of “willful torture, willful abuse, and cruelly beating or otherwise willfully maltreating a child under the age of 18.”

While Johnson has not officially been charged for any of these allegations, he had previously pled guilty to allegedly violating a domestic violence protection order early last year. The charges were brought up by his ex-wife who claimed that he had harassed and threatened her, and that he had broken into her home.

 

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Johnson is currently still in custody and has a bond set at $21,500 with an arraignment scheduled to take place on April 7.

Alabama Shakes, which Johnson helped found, is a southern rock band that formed in Athens, Alabama in 2009. The band also consists of members Brittany Howard, lead singer and guitarist, Heath Fogg, guitarist and Zac Cockrell, bassist. Johnson was featured on the band’s first two studio albums Boys & Girls, which was released in 2012 and Sound & Color, which dropped in 2015. Alabama Shakes has been inactive since 2018.

Before the blues rock band decided to take their hiatus, Howard found herself staying active in the music industry through working with others. She teamed up with Thundercat and Georgia Anne Muldrow to take the stage at the Hollywood Bowl in August of 2016 where they each brought a piece of their own talents to the table. The combination of these three artists brought a culturally dynamic atmosphere to the Hollywood Bowl which touched on multiple levels of American art and culture.