Jonny Lang - Breakin' Me

What this video is

Released in 1998 as a single from Jonny Lang's third album Wander This World (A&M Records), 'Breakin' Me' arrived at the peak of a late-90s blues-rock resurgence on MTV and mainstream radio. Lang, born in 1981 and raised in North Dakota, was a teenager when the album was released, yet commanded a vocal and guitar authority drawing comparisons to Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert King. The video's Minneapolis filming…

Why it matters

Represents a pivotal commercial moment for 1990s contemporary electric blues, demonstrating how the genre was packaged for MTV crossover without wholly sacrificing its roots-rock aesthetic. Lang's prodigy narrative gave the blues renewed cultural visibility among younger audiences during an era…

The director

New York City-based Director of Photography and director. Early career included lighting design work for photographers Herb Ritts, Steven Klein, and Philip-Lorca diCorcia. Expanded into music video directing and DP work, then transitioned to long-form…