Johnny Rzeznik
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John Joseph Theodore Rzeznik (pronounced REZ-nik) (born December 5, 1965 in Buffalo, New York) is a songwriter and the vocalist/guitarist of rock band the Goo Goo Dolls.
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[edit] Biography
Prior to the album Superstar Car Wash, his bandmate, Robby Takac was the lead singer. During the era of the aforementioned album, they collaborated on several songs. Although Rzeznik transitioned into becoming the lead vocalist, both men still share the duties of writing songs for the band's albums and Takac still sings lead vocals on several songs.
Rzeznik has always been a fan of Fender guitars. He used many variations such as the Stratocaster, Telecaster, Jaguar, and a "Halfcaster" (a Stratocaster cut in half). He used Guild acoustics as well. But as of late he seems to be experimenting the Gibson Les Paul guitars, and semi hollow body guitars. He also uses acoustic Taylor Guitars.
The last name "Rzeznik" (which, spelled 'Rzeźnik', means 'butcher' in Polish) indicates his Polish ancestry -- his parents (Joseph and Edith Rzeznik) are both Catholic immigrants from Poland. He has four older sisters (Phyllis, Fran, Glad and Kate), and often jokingly complains it's "...one of the worst things that can happen to a man." His father died from complications of alcoholism when Johnny was fourteen, and his mother the following year from heart problems. He got an apartment on his own and turned punk. He and Robby were defiant punks at their school, McKinley Vocational High School, where he was studying to be a plumber. The band Goo Goo Dolls happened instead.
[edit] Songwriting
Rzeznik believes that writing is a vocational thing. Inspiration comes rarely when it does come at all, and even when it does, he claims that you still have to hammer the information out. Music isn't all play. He says he often runs tape and "messes around with stuff", just singing and playing what he feels and keeping the things he likes. He says that it takes a lot of digging around but eventually you will find a nugget of something that is true. He says that he writes the music first and then forms the words around the music. He says that music inspires words to come forth. He says just pull lyrics from things around you such as past feelings in life, or movies you saw. It's everywhere you just have to use it. Often his songs are about himself. (from ASCAP)
Around 1998, Rzeznik claimed to have writer's block when it came to song-writing. However, he claims that his block was broken when Goo Goo Dolls were approached to write a song for the movie City Of Angels. The resulting song, "Iris", is arguably Goo Goo Doll's biggest hit to date. "Iris" is also featured in Dizzy Up the Girl. From this album, the Goo Goo Dolls released "Slide" and "Black Balloon", which were both commercially successful. He has said "Black Balloon" was about someone he knew who was going through a very bad time, but ended up fine.
In 2002, following the album Gutterflower, Rzeznik wrote "I'm Still Here" as the theme for the Disney film Treasure Planet, which he also released as a single independently from the band.
In recent times, Rzeznik has focused some of his attention on producing music for various artists. He wrote a couple of songs for Ryan Cabrera's debut album Take It All Away. The traditional Goo Goo Dolls sound is very evident on Cabrera's song "Illusions".
Rzeznik wrote the single "Better Days" (released winter 2005), co-wrote "Stay With You" (released April 2006), and co-wrote "Let Love In" (released fall 2006) both from 2006 album Let Love In.
[edit] Notable performances
At the 2004 Fashion Rocks! concert in New York, Rzeznik performed a duet with Canadian pop singer Avril Lavigne. They sang together on the Goo Goo Dolls' hit song "Iris" which Lavigne claims is her all time favorite song, though she did get a lyric wrong.
On July 4th, 2004, Rzeznik and his bandmates returned home to Buffalo and played a free show to give back to their loyal fans, over 60 thousand of whom attended. The day quickly became a city triumph when rain came pouring down during their performance. It turned out to be the worst rain storm Buffalo had seen in over twenty years, but the Goo Goo Dolls did not stop playing. Rzeznik declared, "We're going to keep going until this shit stops". This performance was captured on DVD and CD for the public in the Goo Goo Dolls release Live in Buffalo: July 4th 2004.
[edit] Discography (individual)
- "Wish You Were Here", a duet with Limp Bizkit from the album America: A Tribute to Heroes
- "I'm Still Here (Jim's Theme)" from the Treasure Planet soundtrack
- "Always Know Where You Are", written by Rzeznik and performed by BBMak on the Treasure Planet soundtrack, but sung by Rzeznik in the movie
- "Once in a Lifetime", theme of Good Morning Miami
- "All I Want is You", on the album Les Paul and Friends
- "For Your Love", featuring Rzeznik, on The Yardbirds' album Birdland
