Johnstone was born in
Edinburgh. At the age of seven, at primary school, he volunteered to learn the violin. By the time he was 10 he was playing it "sideways like a guitar". One of his sisters then bought him a guitar for Christmas and by the age of 12 he was organising bands at his secondary school,
Forrester High School. He had already decided he wanted to be a musician when he grew up. Johnstone's first work was with
Noel Murphy in 1968, where he received his first album credit on the album
Another Round. By 1969, Johnstone had secured regular work as a
session musician, where he began to branch out and explore differing genres of music, and experiment with a variety of instruments. In 1970, when Lyell Tranter (one of the two guitarists in the acoustic British
folk group
Magna Carta) left the band, Johnstone took his place as a member. He recorded several albums with them beginning in 1970 on
Seasons (1970), and continued to contribute to
Songs from Wasties Orchard (1971) (named after the street where he lived in
Long Hanborough, Oxfordshire), and a live album entitled
In Concert. During his stint with Magna Carta, Johnstone played a wide variety of instruments including guitar,
mandolin,
sitar, and
dulcimer. He also caught producer
Gus Dudgeon's attention during this time – Dudgeon asking Johnstone to play on
Bernie Taupin's eponymous
1971 solo album, which resulted in a meeting with
Elton John, and ultimately, Johnstone's playing on John's 1971 album
Madman Across the Water, after which he was invited to join
Elton John's band as a full member. Previously, the Elton John Band consisted of John himself, bassist
Dee Murray, and drummer
Nigel Olsson. Johnstone's debut album as a full-time member with John's band, was the 1972
Honky Chateau, on which he played electric and acoustic guitars, slide guitar, banjo, and mandolin, and also sang backing vocals alongside Murray and Olsson. In 1972 he worked with
Joan Armatrading and
Pam Nestor on their Gus Dudgeon-produced debut album ''
Whatever's for Us'', playing acoustic and electric guitar on several tracks, and sitar on the song "Visionary Mountains". Johnstone released a solo album,
Smiling Face, in 1973 through
The Rocket Record Company and created a short-lived band called China that released an eponymous album in 1977. Even while playing alongside other artists such as
Stevie Nicks,
Bob Seger,
Meat Loaf and
Alice Cooper during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Johnstone was never very far from Elton's projects, and following his reunion with original bandmates Nigel Olsson and Dee Murray full-time for 1982's "Jump Up" tour, has rarely been absent from an Elton John album track or tour. In 1990, Johnstone collaborated for the first time with lyricist Steve Trudell. With music and lyric in place, the two formed Warpipes, which included past and present Elton John band members Nigel Olsson on drums,
Bob Birch on bass,
Guy Babylon on keyboards, along with Billy Trudel as vocalist. In 1991, Warpipes released their only album,
Holes in the Heavens, on the label Artful Balance Records. When Artful Balance Records folded, Bridge Recordings released an eponymous album (with cover-art showing a space in the name: "War Pipes") which included all bar "Satellite City" from the "Holes..." album. The track order was also changed and three new tracks included: "Little Persuader", "Dust On My Boots" and "One Love True". Additionally, some of the tracks from the "Holes..." album were edited with consequent duration changes. In 1991, Johnstone produced Addison Steel's
Stormy Blue in which he played guitar, mandolin, sitar, and banjo, and performed vocals. Co-producer Guy Babylon joined with keyboard arrangements, alongside drummer Nigel Olsson and Billy Trudel adding percussion and vocals respectively. In 1996, Johnstone released an instructional guitar video titled
Davey Johnstone: Star Licks Master Sessions for
Star Licks Productions, in which he plays a wide variety of John classics, joined by Billy Trudel on vocals and Bob Birch on bass. In 1997, while on tour with John, Johnstone and then Elton John bandmate and former
Hellecasters guitarist
John Jorgenson spent much of their off time creating
Crop Circles, an album of acoustic instrumentation released in 1998. On 10 June 2009, Johnstone played a landmark 2000th show as a member of the Elton John Band at the
SECC in Glasgow, Scotland. He is currently serving as John's musical director, in addition to his guitar work, playing along with Nigel Olsson and John Mahon; he also performed with Bob Birch before Birch's death in August 2012. In 2014, he played on "Belle Fleur" and "If You Were My Love" from Stevie Nicks' album
24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault. He knew Nicks from when he played guitar on several songs from her 1981 album
Bella Donna. On 1 October 2019, Johnstone performed his 3,000th show with Elton John at the first of two
Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour stops at the
SaskTel Centre in
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. On 25 June 2023, Johnstone performed with Elton John at the
Glastonbury Festival. The set was one of the headline acts and was billed as John's last live UK performance. == Personal life ==