John Rzeznik appears as one of the judges in the Fox television network’s competitive reality TV series American Band. He is a well-known American rock star who was born on December 5, 1965 in Buffalo, New York. Rzeznik (pronounced Res-nick) has performed as a guitarist, songwriter and vocalist, mainly as part of the multi-platinum, Grammy Award-nominated alternative rock band The Goo Goo Dolls. He grew up in a family of Polish ancestry with four older sisters, and has jokingly stated that it was “…one of the worst things that could happen to a man.”
Rzeznik suffered notable losses when he was a teenager. When he was fourteen years old, his father Joseph passed away due to complications from alcoholism. A year later, his mother Edith also died because of heart troubles. Rzeznik went out to get and live in an apartment of his own, and slowly drifted towards a punk lifestyle. He also trained to be a plumber at the McKinley Vocational High School. When he was studying at the Buffalo State College later on, he met future band mate Robby Takac, with both of them working together and eventually forming the Goo Goo Dolls. Rzeznik has always favored Fender guitars.
(Photo courtesy of FOX)