February 10, 2000  

Johnny Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls confirms that he and his wife, Laurie, have separated. But it's not what it sounds like.

"We're not separated to get divorced," Rzeznik explains. "She's going to college. We're separated like, 'I'm going to school, you're doing this, we're not going to see each other much. Let's see what happens when both our lives settle down a little bit.'"

Laurie, whom Rzeznik married during the mid-'90s after they had been dating for many years, is studying at Buffalo State College, the singer-guitarist's "sort-of alma mater" ("I spent three years there, all freshman"), to be a high school English teacher. Rzeznik applauds his wife as "a brave woman. I told her, 'You're gonna have to get a flak jacket.' Maybe I'll get her shooting lessons for her graduation. But she's all into that thing; she's unbelievably altruistic. I was like, 'Don't you want to be a shrink? You're so good at it; you've been dealing with me for 10 years!'"

But Rzeznik says that ultimately, the ability to support Laurie in her pursuit is a way to pay her back for backing him during the many lean days of the Goo Goo Dolls' road to stardom — the group is currently nominated for a Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal Grammy for the hit "Black Balloon."

"She never wanted to get in the way of me doing this and always supported it," he explains. "That's the nicest part about [success], being able to pay people back who did right by you." — Gary Graff