The article marks seven years since the death of Jimmy Johnson, guitarist and co-founder of Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, who died on 5 September 2019 in Florence, Alabama, aged 76. Johnson was a key figure in the "Muscle Shoals sound", a blend of Southern soul, R&B and country that shaped some of American music's most enduring recordings, and his passing was mourned by artists including Jason Isbell, who credited him with helping create much of his favourite music.

As part of the celebrated session group the Swampers, Johnson played on records by Aretha Franklin, Percy Sledge, Bob Seger, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bob Dylan, and Paul Simon gave the group a co-production credit on his 1973 album There Goes Rhymin' Simon. Born in 1943 in Sheffield, Alabama, Johnson began his career at Rick Hall's FAME Studios in 1961 before co-founding Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in 1969 with backing from Atlantic Records' Jerry Wexler; as an engineer he also oversaw the Rolling Stones' 1969 Sticky Fingers sessions, which produced "Wild Horses" and "Brown Sugar".