He was the first child born to Dr. John and Betty Witherspoon. His
father was a military surgeon specializing in the ear, nose and throat.
His mother was a Registered Nurse who would later become a Ph.D in
pediatric nursing. John spent four years of his life in Wiesbaden,
Germany where his father served as a lieutenant colonel in the US Army
reserves. Shortly after, he would move the family back to the States,
settling in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1980.