You know that feeling when a song just follows you everywhere? For most of us, that's "Iris." It’s the song that refuses to die, and honestly, the iris album goo goo dolls fans usually refer to—Dizzy Up the Girl—is a fascinating time capsule of why the late '90s felt the way they did.
It’s actually kinda funny. If you ask a casual listener what album "Iris" is on, they might pause. Was it a soundtrack? Was it a greatest hits thing? Technically, it was both, but it found its permanent home on the band's 1998 multi-platinum masterpiece.
Most people don’t realize how close the Goo Goo Dolls were to just... disappearing before this record. John Rzeznik was staying in a hotel in LA, going through a rough divorce, and facing a brutal case of writer’s block. He was literally about to quit. Then he saw a rough cut of the movie City of Angels.
The Song That Saved Everything
The story goes that Rzeznik was so moved by Nicolas Cage's character—an angel willing to give up immortality for a human woman—that he sat down and wrote the song in an afternoon.
He didn’t even have a full set of strings.
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Seriously. He was playing a guitar with only four strings because he didn't have any spares. That struggle actually led to the song’s signature sound. He used a weird, non-standard tuning (BDDDDD) where basically every string is tuned to a D in different octaves. It gives the track that massive, ringing, melancholic drone that makes your hair stand up.
And the name? There’s no girl named Iris in the movie. There’s no Iris in the lyrics. Rzeznik just saw the name of country singer Iris DeMent in a copy of LA Weekly and thought it looked cool.
Why Dizzy Up the Girl is More Than a One-Hit Wonder
While everyone talks about the "Iris album," Dizzy Up the Girl is actually stacked. If you haven't listened to the full record lately, you’ve forgotten how many hits were actually on there.
- Slide: That catchy, slightly mysterious track about a girl in a "precarious situation."
- Black Balloon: A dark, beautiful song about addiction.
- Broadway: A nostalgic nod to their hometown of Buffalo, New York.
- Dizzy: The high-energy opener that proved they hadn't totally lost their punk-rock roots.
The band started in the mid-80s as a messy, loud garage-punk trio. By the time 1998 rolled around, they had polished that sound into something that could dominate radio for a decade. Robby Takac, the bassist, still sang a few tracks on the album, keeping that gritty, indie-rock edge alive while Rzeznik handled the soaring ballads.
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The 2026 Resurgence
Believe it or not, as of January 2026, "Iris" is still charting. It’s wild. The song recently hit a massive milestone, being certified Diamond by the RIAA. That means 10 million units moved.
It’s also been having a "moment" on Spotify's Global Top 30 for most of 2025 and early 2026. A lot of this comes from its inclusion in major films like Deadpool & Wolverine and more recently the 2025 thriller Companion. Younger generations are discovering it on TikTok and treating it like a brand-new anthem.
There’s something about the lyrics—"I just want you to know who I am"—that hits differently in an era of social media filters and AI. It’s raw. It feels human.
What You Probably Didn't Know
Here is the stuff that usually gets left out of the "Behind the Music" specials.
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The Goo Goo Dolls were actually in a legal war with their label, Metal Blade, right before the iris album goo goo dolls era took off. They felt their contract was totally unfair. They had sold millions of records but were still basically broke. If "Iris" hadn't become a hit, the band might have been buried in legal fees and debt.
Also, the song's chart history is weird. It spent 18 weeks at number one on the radio charts, which was a record that stood for over 20 years until The Weeknd broke it with "Blinding Lights." But because of old Billboard rules about commercial singles, it never actually hit #1 on the Hot 100 back in '98. It peaked at #9.
Get the Most Out of the Record
If you’re looking to revisit this era, don't just stream "Iris" on repeat. Here is how to actually experience the album:
- Check out the 25th Anniversary Vinyl: It was released a couple of years back on silver wax. The analog master really brings out the strings that producer Rob Cavallo added to the tracks.
- Listen to "A Boy Named Goo": This was the album right before Dizzy Up the Girl. It’s got "Name" on it and shows the bridge between their punk past and their pop-rock future.
- Watch the "Iris" music video: It’s full of that late-90s "voyeur" aesthetic. Rzeznik is watching people through telescopes and cameras—a nod to the "Iris" of a camera lens.
- Try the tuning: If you play guitar, tune to B-D-D-D-D-D. It’s a nightmare for your guitar's neck, but it’s the only way to get that shimmering sound right.
The legacy of the iris album goo goo dolls made is basically bulletproof at this point. It’s one of those rare moments where a band found the perfect balance between artistic frustration and commercial gold.
Next Steps for Fans:
Go find a live version of the song from the mid-2000s, specifically their performance in the pouring rain in Buffalo. It captures the energy of the band at their peak. After that, compare the studio version of Dizzy Up the Girl to their 2022 album Chaos in Bloom to see how Rzeznik’s songwriting has matured into his 60s.