The Goo Goo Dolls

Biography

The Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock band based in Buffalo, New York, composed of lead vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik, bassist and vocalist Robby Takac, as well as several rotating members since its formation in 1985.
After starting off as a cover band and then developing a punk sound, Goo Goo Dolls experienced mainstream success following the 1995 release of their breakthrough single, "Name". Their 1998 single, "Iris" spent 11 consecutive months on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked atop the Hot 100 Airplay chart for 18 weeks. In October 2012, "Iris" placed first on Billboard's "Top 100 Pop Songs 1992–2012" chart. Other singles include "Slide×Slide1998 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Slide (album version)3:332Acoustic #31:573Nothing Can Change You3:15", "Black Balloon×Black Balloon7 September 1999 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Black Balloon (radio edit)4:002Black Balloon (album version)4:113Naked3:44", and "Broadway×Broadway2000 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Broadway (album version)3:592Naked (live version)3:543Black Balloon (live version)3:41" from Dizzy Up the Girl (1998); "Here Is Gone×Here Is Gone2002 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Here Is Gone4:012We Are The Normal3:383Burnin' Up2:32" from Gutterflower (2002); and "Better Days×Better Days2005 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Better Days3:382Better Days (acoustic)3:31", "Give a Little Bit×Give a Little Bit25 April 2005 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Give a Little Bit3:362Sympathy2:583Give a Little Bit (live)4:01", and "Stay with You" from Let Love In (2006).
The band has had seven top-40 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, which includes three top tens. They have sold 15 million records worldwide, and received four Grammy Award nominations.

Origins and early music (1985–1993)

The band's original lineup included John Rzeznik (guitar, vocals), Robby Takac (bass, vocals), and George Tutuska (drums, percussion). Takac and Tutuska had been long-time friends in school and met Rzeznik while he was playing in the band The Beaumonts with Takac's cousin, Paul Takac, and close friend Michael Harvey who was the inspiration for the band. In 1999 Rolling Stone reported the trio picked their name from a True Detective ad for a toy called a Goo Goo Doll. In 2022, Rzeznik said he didn't remember how they picked the name. "We had a gig and so we had to come up with some kind of a name just to play the show", Rzeznik said. "It's kind of a stupid name."
The band started out playing covers, but went on to develop a punk sound. With Takac as their lead singer, the band released their first album, Goo Goo Dolls, in 1987 on Mercenary Records, but was picked up in 1988 by Celluloid Records, a larger record company. They played around Buffalo's underground music circuit and across the United States, opening for punk bands such as Gang Green, SNFU, Dag Nasty, Bad Religion, Motörhead, ALL, The Dead Milkmen, Doughboys, Big Drill Car, The Gun Club, Uniform Choice, The Dickies, Soulside, Necros, and DRI, and playing with fellow Buffalo bands. The band released its second album, Jed, in 1989.
The band released its third album, Hold Me Up×Hold Me Up16 October 1990 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Laughing3:432Just the Way You Are3:103So Outta Line2:244There You Are3:095You Know What I Mean3:266Out of the Red1:427Never Take the Place of Your Man3:548Hey2:539On Your Side3:071022 Seconds0:4211Kevin's Song3:1112Know My Name2:4413Million Miles Away2:4714Two Days in February3:12, in 1990 and featured Rzeznik as the lead vocalist on five tracks, including the single "There You Are×There You Are1990 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1There You Are3:10" and "Two Days in February". After being embraced by local college radio and punk scenes (including such venues as CBGB), the Goo Goo Dolls incorporated elements of heavy metal, pop rock, and punk rock into the album. In 1991, the song "I'm Awake Now×I'm Awake Now1991 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1I'm Awake Now3:33" was recorded for the soundtrack of Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare.
Superstar Car Wash, released in 1993, received a larger budget from Metal Blade Records. The album was partially recorded at Metalworks Studios in Mississauga, Ontario. The single "We Are the Normal×We Are the Normal22 April 1993 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1We Are the Normal3:392Another Second Time Around3:00", co-written with Paul Westerberg of The Replacements, Westerberg providing the lyrics, received a major push toward play on college and independent radio, and its video was displayed on MTV's 120 Minutes program. "Fallin' Down" made it onto the 1993 soundtrack of Pauly Shore's hit film Son in Law.

Mainstream success, A Boy Named Goo, legal issues, and Tutuska's departure (1993–1997)

Just before A Boy Named Goo×A Boy Named Goo15 March 1994 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Long Way Down3:292Burnin' Up2:293Naked3:444Flat Top4:305Impersonality2:416Name4:307Only One3:188Somethin' Bad2:319Ain't That Unusual3:2010So Long2:3311Eyes Wide Open3:5612Disconnected3:0013Slave Girl2:18's release, Tutuska was fired from the band and replaced by Mike Malinin. Prior to Tutuska's departure, there was a payment dispute between him and Rzeznik over Tutuska's contribution to the writing of the Superstar Car Wash single "Fallin' Down". During the completion of A Boy Named Goo, Tutuska had told band management that he would not tour behind the album unless royalties were to be split evenly among the three members, a practice Tutuska said had been the band's standard practice ever since the release of its self-titled debut in 1987. Tutuska has said that when he told Rzeznik he had not received royalties from "Fallin' Down", Rzeznik admitted that he had been receiving such royalties for two years.
A Boy Named Goo became the first album in Metal Blade history to achieve double-platinum status. The single "Name" was particularly successful on the record. This success, however, proved bittersweet, as the band found themselves in a legal battle with Metal Blade. The band filed suit against Metal Blade, claiming they had not earned any royalties from their album's sales, which was attributed to a "grossly unfair, one-sided and unenforceable contract" which had been signed by the band in 1987. The two sides reached a settlement which had the band signed to Metal Blade's distributing label, Warner Bros. Records, under which the band released their sixth album Dizzy Up the Girl×Dizzy Up the Girl22 September 1998 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Dizzy2:412Slide3:333Broadway3:594January Friend2:455Black Balloon4:106Bullet Proof4:377Amigone3:168All Eyes on Me3:589Full Forever2:5210Acoustic #31:5711Iris4:5012Extra Pale2:1113Hate This Place4:24 in 1998.
The Goo Goo Dolls experienced mainstream success following the 1995 release of their breakthrough single "Name". The success of "Name" marked a fundamental change in the band's sound from alternative rock to a more mainstream, adult-oriented direction and led to guest appearances on Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed.

Dizzy Up the Girl and Gutterflower (1997–2005)

Rzeznik was approached to write a song for the City of Angels soundtrack, and the end product was "Iris". Session guitarist Tim Pierce played the mandolin intro and also the slide guitar solo. The song stayed on top of Billboard Hot 100 Airplay charts for 18 weeks and spent 4 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Pop Songs chart. Iris held the record for the most weeks on the radio for almost 22 years before The Weeknd released "Blinding Lights" and broke the long-standing record on August 22, 2020. Iris was nominated for three Grammys. According to several interviews with Rzeznik, he was experiencing serious bouts of writer's block when he was approached, and was on the verge of quitting the band days before he wrote the song.
"Iris" was included on the quintuple-platinum Dizzy Up the Girl, and was among top-ten hits "Slide×Slide1998 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Slide (album version)3:332Acoustic #31:573Nothing Can Change You3:15", "Black Balloon×Black Balloon7 September 1999 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Black Balloon (radio edit)4:002Black Balloon (album version)4:113Naked3:44", "Broadway×Broadway2000 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Broadway (album version)3:592Naked (live version)3:543Black Balloon (live version)3:41", and "Dizzy×Dizzy8 November 1999 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Dizzy (album version)2:422Slide (acoustic version)3:15" from the same album. In 2001, the Goos released their first compilation CD, What I Learned About Ego, Opinion, Art & Commerce. Next, Gutterflower (2002) achieved gold certification, producing the hits "Here Is Gone×Here Is Gone2002 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Here Is Gone4:012We Are The Normal3:383Burnin' Up2:32", "Sympathy×Sympathy11 September 2002 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksASympathy2:58BThink About Me3:59", and "Big Machine×Big Machine2002 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Big Machine3:082Black Balloon [Sessions@aol]4:013Broadway [Sessions@aol]3:50". On July 4, 2004, the band performed a free concert in Buffalo, playing through a deluge of rain that appears on the DVD released later that year. The DVD also contained a studio version of the Goo Goo Dolls' cover of "Give a Little Bit×Give a Little Bit25 April 2005 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Give a Little Bit3:362Sympathy2:583Give a Little Bit (live)4:01" by Supertramp. The single reached the top of the Adult Top 40 chart in 2005. July 4, 2004, has been proclaimed "Goo Goo Dolls Day" in their native Buffalo, New York.

Let Love In (2005–2007)

In 2006, the Goo Goo Dolls marked their 20th anniversary with their new album Let Love In×Let Love In24 April 2006 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Stay With You3:562Let Love In5:013Feel the Silence3:514Better Days3:355Without You Here3:496Listen3:117Give a Little Bit3:368Can’t Let It Go3:539We’ll Be Here (When You’re Gone)3:2910Strange Love3:3611Become4:08, which included the studio recording of "Give a Little Bit×Give a Little Bit25 April 2005 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Give a Little Bit3:362Sympathy2:583Give a Little Bit (live)4:01" as well as other top 10 radio singles "Better Days×Better Days2005 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Better Days3:382Better Days (acoustic)3:31", "Stay with You", and "Let Love In". Goo Goo Dolls performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on June 8, 2007, and at The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on June 22, 2007.
On June 27, 2007, the Goo Goo Dolls performed at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado. The concert was released as a DVD on the limited-edition version of their 2008 release, Vol.2. Though the album has not (as of 2007) been certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), various music sites have asserted that it has gone gold.

Greatest hits albums (2007–2008)

On November 13, 2007, the Goo Goo Dolls released a greatest hits album entitled Greatest Hits Volume One: The Singles, which includes a new version of "Name" recorded and mixed by Paul David Hager, and a remix of "Feel the Silence" by Michael Brauer.
The band performed "Better Days×Better Days2005 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Better Days3:382Better Days (acoustic)3:31" and "Stay With You" at the halftime of the Detroit Lions' 2007 Thanksgiving Day game at Ford Field.

Something for the Rest of Us (2008–2010)

The Goo Goo Dolls announced recording sessions for a new album, on their website, unrelated to their Volume Two in 2008. In addition, the band performed as part of the O2 Wireless Festival in London's Hyde Park in the summer of 2008.
Something for the Rest of Us was released on August 31, 2010. While the album was full of the pop-rock that has sustained the band for decades, lead singer/guitarist Rzeznik's songwriting took on a more somber, serious tone. Something for the Rest of Us included the single "Home", which extended the band's record to 14 top ten hits at the Hot AC radio format (more than any other artist in the history of that format).
The band performed a live mini-concert at the Apple Store in Manhattan, New York on December 2, 2010.

Magnetic and Malinin's departure (2010–2015)

The album Magnetic×Magnetic7 March 2013 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Rebel Beat3:342When the World Breaks Your Heart3:333Slow It Down3:114Caught in the Storm3:575Come to Me3:456Bringing On the Light3:167More of You3:268Bulletproofangel3:239Last Hot Night3:3710Happiest of Days3:3111Keep the Car Running4:0812Home4:3513Black Balloon4:25 was released on June 11, 2013 and debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 chart. On July 19, 2013, the band released the second single off of Magnetic, "Come to Me×Come to Me23 July 2013 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Come to Me3:45".
In December 2013, Mike Malinin announced his departure from the band. In November 2014, Malinin sued the band for wrongful termination, claiming that he was fired after requesting paternity leave.
The Goo Goo Dolls contributed to the soundtrack of the broadway×Broadway2000 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Broadway (album version)3:592Naked (live version)3:543Black Balloon (live version)3:41 musical Finding Neverland in 2015. The soundtrack, released June 9, 2015, contained the song "If the World Turned Upside Down".

Boxes, 20th anniversary of A Boy Named Goo and touring (2015–2017)

The band spent the majority of 2015 in the studio writing and recording their eleventh studio album, Boxes×Boxes6 May 2016 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Over and Over4:082Souls in the Machine3:493Flood4:134The Pin4:135Boxes4:236Free of Me3:367Reverse4:138Lucky One3:059So Alive3:1510Prayer in My Pocket3:3411Long Way Home3:35, at Bear Creek Studio in Woodinville, Washington. The album was released on May 6, 2016.
The Goo Goo Dolls celebrated the 20th anniversary of the release of A Boy Named Goo by releasing a special edition of the album on November 27, 2015.
Goo Goo Dolls released an exclusive vinyl box set for Record Store Day on April 22, 2017, entitled Pick Pockets, Petty Thieves, and Tiny Victories (1987–1995).

You Should Be Happy, Miracle Pill, and Christmas album (2017–2021)

On May 12, 2017, Goo Goo Dolls released a five-song EP entitled You Should Be Happy×You Should Be Happy12 May 2017 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Tattered Edge / You Should Be Happy3:442Use Me3:20330K Feet3:564Walk Away3:475Boxes (Alex Aldi mix)4:18. In support of the EP, the band toured throughout the summer of 2017 on the "Long Way Home" tour with Phillip Phillips. With 2018 marking the 20th anniversary of Dizzy Up the Girl, the band embarked on a commemorative tour where they performed the album in its entirety. Also in 2018, the band released two live albums: The Audience is This Way×The Audience Is This Way21 July 2018 · Album · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracksA1Long Way Down3:38A2Slide3:39A3Home4:29A4The Pin4:16A5January Friend2:59B1Big Machine3:09B2So Alive3:11B3Better Days3:31B4Iris5:42B5Broadway5:44 in June, and The Audience is That Way in November.
At the beginning of 2019, the Goo Goo Dolls announced that they were working on a twelfth studio album. On record store day (April 13, 2019), a vinyl box limited to 1000 copies under the name Topography was released.
On August 24, 2020, the band announced a Christmas album: It's Christmas All Over, which was released on October 30. Later that year, Rzeznik sat down with Atwood Magazine to discuss the band's 35th anniversary.
In May 2021, the band announced that Rarities, a double compilation featuring songs spanning from 1995 to 2007, would be released on June 25, 2021.

Chaos in Bloom (2022–present)

In a June 2021 interview, singer John Rzeznik revealed that the band was working on their 14th studio album, which would be released sometime in 2022. When asked about how the album differs from the band's previous work, Rzeznik claimed that the band had decided to approach both writing and recording in an alternative way. Specifically, the band used earlier forms of production which they utilized prior to the digital era in the music industry.
In a November 2021 Spin interview, Rzeznik stated that he produced most of the album himself. He added that the album would sound more experimental than the band's past releases, hinting that he did not believe it would receive much radio airplay. It was later confirmed that the album was entirely produced by Rzeznik.
On June 27, 2022, the band announced the title of their new album, Chaos in Bloom×Chaos in Bloom12 August 2022 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Yeah, I Like You4:242War4:343Save Me From Myself3:164Let the Sun3:335Loving Life3:356Going Crazy3:587Day After Day3:278Past Mistakes3:329You Are the Answer4:2310Superstar4:31, as well as the first single off it, "Yeah, I Like You". The latter premiered on July 1, 2022.
In February 2023, Goo Goo Dolls announced their North America tour. In December 2025, the band announced a tour to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their formation.