John Lyon (born December 4, 1948), better known by his stage name Southside Johnny, is an American singer-songwriter who usually fronts his band Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.

Southside Johnny has long been considered the Grandfather of “the New Jersey Sound.” Jon Bon Jovi has acknowledged Southside Johnny as his “reason for singing.”

John Lyon was born in Neptune, New Jersey, and grew up in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. He grew up in a home full of music and with his parents’ big record collection of blues and jazz; his father played bass in bands. “I grew up on music. We listened to Billie Holiday, T-Bone Walker, Muddy Waters and Big Joe Turner. My parents loved music, the louder the better. My father played in bands for years, and my mother went into labor with me at some seedy New Jersey club. I guess some things were just meant to be.”

In 1967; Lyon graduated from Neptune High School with Garry Tallent and Vini Lopez, who both would go on to play with him in the future.