Texas’ New Attorney General Nathan Johnson Is a Former ‘Dragon Ball Z’ Composer

Texas state Sen. Nathan Johnson, who composed music for Dragon Ball Z, was elected Texas attorney general this week. He will take office in January 2027.

Johnson, a veteran litigator, wrote on his Facebook page: “If you grew up watching Dragon Ball Z, you might know me better than you think: I composed the musical scores for 67 episodes and five movies, and had a great time doing it.”

The “wall to wall” scores were recorded in the 2000s and included music for Dragon Ball Z: The World’s Strongest, Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might, Dragon Ball Z: Broly — Second Coming, Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn and Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon.

“It was a lot of fun,” Johnson said in a video posted in June. “I had a one-year-old at the time, and I remember him sitting on my knee and stuff blowing up. He was like ‘oh, daddy, Goku,’” he continued, referring to the show’s lead character.

“He just thought it was super cool. Even then it just gave me street cred with my kids’ friends and it gave me a creative outlet and a cultural connection that very few people had the opportunity to have.”

Created by Akira Toriyama and produced by Toei Animation, Dragon Ball Z is a sci-fi fantasy following Goku, an alien warrior. The anime premiered in Japan in 1989 and was syndicated in the United States on Cartoon Network from 1998 until 2008. Its celebrity fans include Kendrick Lamar, Steve Aoki, Bad Bunny, Big Sean and Anuel AA.

Johnson lists swimming, reading “boring books” and making peanut butter among his guilty pleasures. He holds a B.S. in physics from the University of Arizona and a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Since taking office in 2019, he has authored at least 433 bills, more than 130 of which became law.

Johnson won the Texas attorney general election on Wednesday, Nov. 3, as Democrats gained control of the Senate and the House of Representatives in the midterms. Democrats flipped seven Senate seats, nearly 30 House districts, five governorships and up to 12 state legislative chambers.

Source: Billboard