# Is Johnny Winter a true albino? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 4, 2002, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-johnny-winter-a-true-albino/107294 "2002-05-04T21:02:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-johnny-winter-a-true-albino/107294/1 "2002-05-04T21:02:11Z")
Is [Johnny Winter](http://www.home.ch/~spaw1203/Music/winter_disco2_stillaliveandwell.html) a true albino? Just curious as he doesn’t seem to have those clear pink eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-johnny-winter-a-true-albino/107294/2 "2002-05-04T22:47:48Z")
Not all albinos have pink or red eyes; some have light purple, blue, or grey eyes. As for Winter, he sure looks like an albino to me. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2002, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-johnny-winter-a-true-albino/107294/3 "2002-05-05T00:35:29Z")
How common are albino people? I’ve never met anyone with pink/reddish eyes! ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2002, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-johnny-winter-a-true-albino/107294/4 "2002-05-05T02:22:18Z")
His brother Edgar is an albino too. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2002, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-johnny-winter-a-true-albino/107294/5 "2002-05-05T03:00:52Z")
Might be colored contacts; I believe I’ve read that sight problems are common in albinios. ---
**Author:** ![japatlgt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@japatlgt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/japatlgt)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2002, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-johnny-winter-a-true-albino/107294/6 "2002-05-05T11:17:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elfkin477 \* > \*\*Might be colored contacts; I believe I’ve read that sight problems are common in albinios. \*\* Johnny Winter is blind as a bat (God bless him). ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2002, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-johnny-winter-a-true-albino/107294/7 "2002-05-05T15:13:47Z")
**Griffin** , albinos are quite rare. In the US, about one in 20,000 people has some form of albinism (some albinos have no pigment, others have a tiny bit; there is also occular albinism, which affects only the eyes). You’ve probably never seen anyone with red eyes because they are rare even in albinos. Most albinos have blue eyes. You may have seen or met albinos before and not realized it. Albinos born to white families, especially families that tend to be pale anyway, may not be diagnosed as albinos until their visual problems become apparent. Albinos always have visual problems. They suffer from abnormal development in the retina and nerves that link the eye to the brain. These problems are at least partially (perhaps entirely, I’m not sure) caused by lack of pigment in the eye; this lack prevents the iris from screening light as it normally would, so light can pass through an albinos iris as well as his or her pupil. This screws up the inner workings of the eye. ---
**Author:** ![lorinada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5e925/32.png) [@lorinada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorinada)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2002, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-johnny-winter-a-true-albino/107294/8 "2002-05-05T17:49:26Z")
I think I once saw a black albino on the bus. I kept trying not to stare, but the woman looked so strange and I kept trying to figure out why. She had the facial structure and hair to suggest she was black, but her skin was paler than mine (and I wear the lightest shade of makeup) and here hair was straw-colored, but not the orangey-look of blacks who bleach their hair. I finally realized she was probably a black albino. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2002, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-johnny-winter-a-true-albino/107294/9 "2002-05-05T22:24:35Z")
No reason that’s impossible, Lorinada. I used to date a Pakistani albino - accent, facial structure, hair texture _g_ were Pakistani but he was whiter than I was, had dark red pupils and grey irises, and was also pretty severely visually impaired. He had suffered greatly from racism in his country of birth. Some time later I met an albino Québécois who wasn’t particularly striking as far as appearance went - was just very pale blond with a somewhat darker goatee, and skin slightly paler than my own. I don’t recall what colour eyes he had, but he didn’t seem to be visually impaired. He looked more Swedish than anything else. (He was a real hottie.) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2002, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-johnny-winter-a-true-albino/107294/10 "2002-05-05T23:03:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lamia \* > \*\ ***Griffin** , albinos are quite rare. In the US, about one in 20,000 people has some form of albinism (some albinos have no pigment, others have a tiny bit; there is also occular albinism, which affects only the eyes). \*\* An indigenous group in Panama, the Kuna, has the highest rate of albinism in the world: one in 200. This is probably due to severe inbreeding at an earlier stage in their history. It is very common to see albinos when visiting their homeland on the Caribbean coast, and also among Kuna who have moved to Panama city. The lack of pigmentation is a particular problem under the tropical sun. I have seen several albino Africans in various countries, including Cameroon and Gabon. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-johnny-winter-a-true-albino/107294/11 "2002-05-06T02:50:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lorinada \* > \*\*I think I once saw a black albino on the bus. I kept trying not to stare, but the woman looked so strange and I kept trying to figure out why. She had the facial structure and hair to suggest she was black, but her skin was paler than mine (and I wear the lightest shade of makeup) and here hair was straw-colored, but not the orangey-look of blacks who bleach their hair. > > I finally realized she was probably a black albino. \*\* Jamaican Reggae artist Yellowman is an albino: [http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000000DZG.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000000DZG.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![morganwright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@morganwright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/morganwright)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-johnny-winter-a-true-albino/107294/12 "2025-12-26T16:10:20Z")
Optometrist here. The iris doesn’t screen light it merely adjusts the pupil size, all light goes through the pupil, none through the iris. Lack of melanin causes the loss of the retinal pigment epithelium layer in the retina (RPE) which is supposed to absorb light after it passes through the rods and cones, preventing it from bouncing around in the eye after passing the rods and cones, but it doesn’t in the albino. So light bounces around in the eye and screws up the image. Plus, the macula never develops in the albino which gives them nystagmus (they can’t hold their eyes still) ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-johnny-winter-a-true-albino/107294/13 "2025-12-26T16:24:49Z")
Kudos on posting an image link that still works 23 years later! ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-johnny-winter-a-true-albino/107294/14 "2025-12-26T16:42:17Z")
I have a close friend that is an albino. His skin is very sensitive to sunlight. He always wears long sleeved shirts outside. He tried jobs that required working outside a few hours a day. He was getting burned and had to quit. He has pink eyes and is classified legally blind and can’t drive. He can see shapes well enough to walk and live a fairly normal life. I never could beat him playing pool. He was very good. 😀 I wonder if Johnny and Edgar Winter avoided outdoor shows unless the stage is covered? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-johnny-winter-a-true-albino/107294/15 "2025-12-26T16:59:40Z")
My ex-father in law was albino. He had extremely light blue eyes. He was Puerto Rican where it is much more common than most places and comes with a very bad genetic condition called HPS. It eventually killed him. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-johnny-winter-a-true-albino/107294/16 "2025-12-26T17:20:22Z")
Thank you for your very informative thread revival.