Robby Takac is best known as the co-founder and bassist of the Goo Goo Dolls, one of the most successful rock bands to emerge from any American city in the 1990s. But in Buffalo, his legacy extends far beyond “Iris” and multi-platinum album sales. Takac has spent decades reinvesting in the city that raised him — as a label owner, festival founder, producer, educator, and tireless advocate for the idea that Buffalo’s music scene deserves a national stage.
The Goo Goo Dolls
Takac formed the Goo Goo Dolls with John Rzeznik in Buffalo in 1986 initially calling themselves the Sex Maggots before adopting their permanent name. In the band’s early punk-leaning years, Takac served as lead vocalist and primary songwriter. By the mid-1990s, Rzeznik assumed those roles, and the band exploded commercially with A Boy Named Goo (1995) and its Top Five hit “Name,” followed by the 1998 smash “Iris.” The Goo Goo Dolls have sold over 15 million records, earned four Grammy nominations, and released 13 studio albums — all while maintaining Buffalo as their home base.
Music Is Art
In 2003, Takac founded Music Is Art, a free annual festival in Buffalo dedicated to celebrating music, visual art, and community creativity. Inspired by the Allentown Art Festival near his recording studio, Takac built Music Is Art into one of Western New York’s largest cultural events, featuring over 200 acts across 20-plus stages in genres spanning punk, jazz, hip-hop, country, polka, and everything between. The festival has moved through several Buffalo venues — from Allentown to the Buffalo AKG Art Museum to the Outer Harbor — and operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Takac curates the lineup personally, prioritizing local talent and genre diversity.
Community Investment
Beyond Music Is Art, Takac runs Good Charamel Records, his independent label where he produces emerging bands. He was recognized as a Living Legacy artist by the Burchfield Penney Art Center in 2015 and joined the Medaille College Board of Trustees in 2008. For Takac, Buffalo isn’t a hometown he left behind — it’s the foundation of everything he builds.