Born: December 5, 1965, Buffalo, New York, USA
Early days. Rzeznik was the youngest of five children of Edith and Joseph Rzeznik, a bar proprietor and postal clerk. Both of Rzeznik's parents were musicians, playing the clarinet and the flute. Rzeznik had a strict Catholic upbringing in Buffalo's working-class East Side Polish neighborhood and attended Corpus Christi Grammar School. Rzeznik's father died when Rzeznik was fifteen years old. In 1982, his mother died from a sudden heart attack. Having lost both of his parents, he was brought up by his four older sisters Phyllis, Fran, Gladys, and Kate. He paid for his own apartment using Social Security Survivor Benefit checks. It was during this period and while attending McKinley Vocational High School that Rzeznik began playing the guitar. Rzeznik briefly attended Buffalo State College, dropping out after his first year. All four of Rzeznik's grandparents were born in Poland.
Goo Goo Dolls. In 1985, he formed the band that became the Goo Goo Dolls. They were soon picked up by a small record label, Celluloid. Under Celluloid they released their first eponymous album on a $750 budget. This attracted the attention of a larger record label, Metal Blade, who released their next few albums. For the next few years the band toured, produced albums and held down regular jobs.
Other activity. John wrote "Always Know Where You Are" and "I'm Still Here" for the Disney film Treasure Planet. From October to December 2007, Rzeznik was a judge on the Fox network's The Next Great American Band. In March 2014, Cash Cash released their new single "Lightning" which features John Rzeznik on vocals and was written by Cash Cash and Rzeznik together.
Guitar tunings. Rzeznik is well known for his distinctive and unusual guitar tunings. Many of his newer songs are performed with his guitars tuned to an open chord with several of the strings tuned to the same note but in different octaves. This gives the guitar a shimmery, jangly sound almost like a 12-string guitar. Perhaps the most famous example of this is the B-D-D-D-D-D tuning of his signature hit "Iris.
Songwriting. Rzeznik believes that writing is not just an inspirational thing but that writing music is "ninety nine percent perspiration." He says that when writing a song, he often "runs tape and screws around with stuff," and that his songs are often both biographical and autobiographical. However, Rzeznik was approached for writing the soundtrack of the movie "City of Angels", and after watching the movie, Rzeznik penned down the song, which changed the career graph of the band.
Notable performances. At the 2004 Fashion Rocks! concert in New York, Rzeznik performed a duet version of the song Iris with Canadian pop-punk singer Avril Lavigne. The Goo Goo Dolls also performed the song "Name" at a live concert with LeAnn Rimes. Rzeznik also performed Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" with Fred Durst from Limp Bizkit for the victims of September 11 as a tribute to the heroes. On July 4, 2004, Rzeznik and his bandmates returned home to Buffalo and played a free show to give back to their loyal fans, over 60,000 of who attended. The day quickly became a city triumph when the strongest rain storms of the year in Buffalo came pouring, but the Goo Goo Dolls did not stop playing. This performance was captured on DVD and CD for the public in the Goo Goo Dolls release Live in Buffalo: July 4, 2004.
Equipment. Rzeznik has used many different guitar brands and models over the years. He endorsed ESP guitars, used Epiphone as his guitar of choice. Since the late '90s, Rzeznik has been using Fender electric guitars: Stratocaster, Telecaster, Jaguar and a "Halfcaster". He also used Guild acoustic guitars.
Personal. Rzeznik married Laurie Farinacci in 1993 and in 2003 they were divorced. He married Melina Gallo in 2013.
Awards. On June 19, 2008, John Rzeznik was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and was awarded the Hal David Starlight award.
Selected discography Goo Goo Dolls (1986), Metal Blade Records;Jed (1989), Metal Blade Records;Hold Me Up (1990), Metal Blade Records; Superstar Car Wash (1993), Metal Blade Records; A Boy Named Goo (1995), Metal Blade Records; Dizzy Up The Girl (1998), Warner Bros. Records; Gutterflower (2002), Warner Bros. Records; Let Love In (2006), Warner Bros. Records; Something for the Rest of Us (2010), Warner Bros. Records; Magnetic (2013), Warner Bros. Records.
Solo singles 2002 "I'm Still Here (Jim's Theme)" Treasure Planet Soundtrack
Collaborations/Individual Discography Limp Bizkit and Johnny Rzeznik "Wish You Were Here" America: A Tribute to Heroes (2001); "I'm Still Here (Jim's Theme)" Treasure Planet (2002); "Always Know Where You Are"[18] Treasure Planet (2003); "For Your Love" with The Yardbirds Birdland (2003); "Once in a Lifetime" Good Morning Miami theme; "All I Want is You" Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played (2005); "Men of War" with Steve Morse & Michael Lee Jackson (original version from the Gillan album, Double Trouble) Gillan's Inn (2006); "Lightning" with Cash Cash (2014).
Sources:
This article uses, among others, material from the Wikipedia article "John Rzeznik":
Wikipedia
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.
Supplemented by material from:
Wikipedia in Polish
Interview with Rzeznik
Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony
Published 11/13/14
Return to home page:
Prominent Poles
