Johann Strauss I is the elder of the Viennese Strauss family, father of Johann Strauss II of Blue Danube fame.
His mother died when he was 7, his father when he was 12. After a false start as an apprentice bookbinder, he joined a dance orchestra at the age of 15, as a viola player. Later, in 1825 he founded his own orchestra and became Musical Director at the largest dance hall in Vienna.
One of his most famous pieces is the Radetsky March, composed in 1848 and named after an Austrian Field-Marshal.
He had 6 children, but only 3 boys survived infancy. Johann Strauss II is the eldest of his sons, then Josef and last Eduard. All three were musicians and composers in their own right, though Johann junior became the most famous.