Biography for
Johnny Rzeznik More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

5 December 1965, Buffalo, New York, USA

Birth Name

John Joseph Theodore Rzeznik

Height

6' (1.83 m)

Mini Biography

John Joseph Theodore Rzeznik was born to Joseph and Edith Rzeznik, the youngest of their five children. From early on in his life John found that his parents were constantly arguing due to his fathers drinking problem. His father died at the age of 55 as result of alcohol complications. As the family were trying to come to terms with the death of Joe, John's life was completely shattered just over a year later when his mother died of a sudden heart attack. At the age of 16 John had lost both of his parents and was to be raised by his four older sisters. During this time and while attending high school John's friend introduced him to a hobby which he would stick to for the rest of his life, playing the guitar. After graduating from high school John attended Buffalo State College, only to drop out after his freshman year. It was at this time that he met fellow musician Robby Tacak. Together with drummer George Tutuska the Goo Goo Dolls were born. The Goo Goo Dolls signed to Celluloid by 1985 but didn't gain any success for nine years. During this time the trio released five records and constantly toured. Also John began dating Laurie Farinacci and they married in 1993. The band's 1995 album, "A Boy Named Goo", went double platinum and after hearing their song "Name" the band were asked by music producers to write a song for the upcoming film City of Angels. This song turned out to be "Iris" their most successful hit. The song was featured on their next album "Dizzy up the Girl". The Goo Goo Dolls most recent album is "Gutterflower" released in 2003. John Rzeznik has also written and performed a song for Disney movie "Tresure Planet".

IMDb Mini Biography By: Zak Hamza

Spouse

Laurie Farinacci

(1993 - 1997) (divorced)

Trivia

The Goo Goo Dolls' song "Broadway" was written about Buffalo, John and Robby's hometown.

Parents both died by the time he was 16; father from complications with alcoholism, mother from a heart attack. Raised by his four older sisters in hometown of Buffalo, New York.

Is of Polish decent.

Beat a bout of writers block by writing the song 'Iris' after a viewing of City Of Angels.

Frontman of rockband The Goo Goo Dolls.

His longtime girlfriend is actress Adrienne Frantz.

Has four older sisters: Phyllis, Fran, Glad and Kate.

Hosted VH-1's music variety talk show "The List" (1999) from December 13th to December 17th 1999.

Personal Quotes

Everything happens for a reason & if you stand right where you are now, & you look down & back to everything. to all the events that lead up to you sitting in this room right now with me, you'll see where the order is & where you are right now is pretty amazing. Where we all are, where I am right now is amazing.

I always have this thing; if you write a really cool song, & then you put your leather pants on, you go out, and play, that's cool. That's playing with your image. If you put the leather pants on, & write a song to fit the pants, you're a total poser. You're being more conscious of your image than your craft, or whatever you want to call it, & you really have avoid that.

When you find success, suddenly you have to defend your credibility against these idiots who don't know a thing about you.

"It's better to have a pocket full of regrets than to never have lived."

"It's such a thrill to perform live. You never know if you're going to get hit with a bottle or a bra."

"Los Angeles is good and bad because it's full of people that are either running away from something or looking for something."... "It's the most unintentionally funny city in the world."

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