John Rzeznik
John Rzeznik is the lead singer of the band the Goo Goo Dolls. John is also a talented songwriter and guitarist. Now he can add reality show judge to his resume, as he is one of the judges of the new Fox show “The Next Great American Band.”
John was born in Buffalo, New York in 1965. His name is pronounced “Res-nik,” meaning butcher in Polish. He is the youngest child and only boy in a family of four older sisters. John’s father died when he was only fourteen and his mother passed away just a year later. John attended Buffalo State College and it was there that he met Robby Takac and the two formed the Goo Goo Dolls with drummer George Tutuska.
The Goo Goo Dolls signed a recording contract with Celluloid in 1985, but would not reach mainstream success for another nine years. Their album “A Boy Named Goo” was released in 1995 and it went double platinum. Originally, Robby was the lead singer of the Goo Goo Dolls, but John became the lead singer on the Superstar Car Wash album. John and Robby still share songwriting duties and Robby sings lead vocals on a few songs.
The Goo Goo Dolls performed a free concert for their Buffalo fans on the Fourth of July in 2004. Over 60,000 fans attended. Despite a terrible rainstorm, the Goo Goo Dolls kept performing and even released the concert Live in Buffalo: July 4th 2004 on both CD and DVD.
One of the Goo Goo Dolls biggest hits, “Iris,” was written for the movie City of Angels. John claims to have had writers block before asked to write this song. John did a duet of “Iris” with singer Avril Lavigne at the Fashion Rocks! concert in New York City in 2004. John wrote “Always Know Where You Are” and “I’m Still Here” for the movie Treasure Planet, which was released in 2002. In 2007, the Goo Goo Dolls recorded “Before It’s Too Late” for the movie Transformers, with John writing the song.
After four years out of the spotlight, the Goo Goo Dolls released their eighth studio album titled Let Love In in 2006. In addition to the Goo Goo Dolls, John also produces music for other artists including Andy Stochansky, Blessid Union of Souls, Anastacia, Zoe Scott, and Ryan Cabrera. He wrote several songs for Ryan, including “Illusions.”
Now John sits alongside fellow judges Sheila E and Ian “Dicko” Dickson on the music reality show “The Next Great American Band.” John was a bit hesitant at first to take the job. But, after meeting with the producers and realizing what the show was all about, real bands playing their own music, he happily signed on.
In 1993, John married model Laurie Farinacci, but the two were divorced in 1997. He and his current girlfriend Melina met at a record store in New York City two and a half years ago.
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