Johnny Otis, known as the "Godfather of R&B," was born in 1921 to Greek immigrants in Vallejo, California. Two years later his family moved to a predominantly Black neighborhood in Berkeley, where his father opened a grocery store. In this environment, Otis experienced and internalized Black culture from an early age and was particularly influenced by African American music styles. In high school he learned to play the drums and in 1940 landed his first professional job with Count Otis Matthew's West Oakland House Rockers. The following year he began playing and touring with Black territory big bands led by musicians such as George Morrison and Lloyd Hunter. After settling in Los Angeles, Otis became a session drummer for jazz greats such as Lester Young and performed and recorded with his own big band, scoring his first hit with an arrangement of "Harlem Nocturne" in 1946.

As the demand for big bands waned, Otis downsized to a combo, forging a new style that became known as rhythm and blues. Over the next decade he played an important role in the development of rhythm and blues, discovering, producing, promoting and performing with artists such as Little Esther Phillips, The Robins, The Coasters, Mel Walker, Etta James, Jackie Wilson, Big Mama Thornton, Little Willie John, and Hank Ballard. Otis led the house bands at Club Alabam on Central Avenue and the Barrelhouse, a nightclub he opened in Watts, and toured extensively with his popular live revue show. During this period Otis also released a string of hit records including "Willie and the Hand Jive," wrote songs for other artists, served as a record label talent scout, and operated a recording studio, record shop and the Dig Records label.

In 1954 Otis began his media career as host of "The Johnny Otis Show," a rhythm and blues radio program which he adapted into a weekly television series that aired on KTTV from 1955-1961 and was briefly revived in the 1970s. The popularity of Otis's radio show persisted over several decades, continually introducing new audiences to the many African American artists he worked with throughout his career, highlighting their achievements, and addressing issues such as systemic racism within the industry. Otis also ventured into print media in 1960, writing a column for the Sentinel, one of L.A.'s leading Black newspapers, which he used as a platform to address racial equality and social justice.

Otis was voted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm & Blues Foundation for his role in the development of these styles. In addition to his musical career, Otis was an avid painter and sculptor, author, ordained minister, organic farmer, and civil rights activist. He founded the Landmark Community Church in the late 1970s and advocated tirelessly for the homeless, organizing food drives such as the Red Beans and Rice Festivals promoted on his radio shows. He married Phyllis Walker, an Afro-Filipina woman, in 1941 and had several children. Otis frequently performed with his sons, guitarist Shuggie Otis and drummer Nicky Otis, and in later years with grandson Lucky Otis on bass. Johnny Otis died in 2012 at the age of 90.