John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls Admits He 'Still' Hates Their Band Name
The frontman of the rock band opened up about why the group decided on their name on 'The Kenny Aronoff Sessions' podcast
Goo Goo Dolls broke through to the mainstream with their 1995 single “Name” off A Boy Named Goo — but they’ve had some regrets about their own band name over the years.
The frontman of the rock group John Rzeznik appears on the latest episode of drummer Kenny Aronoff’s podcast, The Kenny Aronoff Sessions, and revealed that he’s actually not a fan of the name The Goo Goo Dolls.
In the episode released on Thursday, the guitarist/vocalist, 57, shared that he wishes the band considered their options before landing on the title that they did. “I still hate the name of our band now,” Rzeznik said. “I wish we would've had 10 more minutes to find a cooler name.”
Related: Goo Goo Dolls' John Rzeznik Says Going Out on Tour Now Is Way Different Than in the '90s
The “Iris” singer told the podcast host, who’s played drums for the likes of John Fogerty and John Mellencamp, that they landed on their band name because they wanted to drop their original name — Sex Maggots, which started as a joke — before a concert.
“We had a gig and we had no name,” he admitted.
He explained that up until then, they were called Sex Maggots, which was bassist/vocalist Robby Takac’s idea to begin with. “It was like a joke,” the hitmaker said. “And then it kind of, like, caught on.”
The rocker continued, “We made a record and we sold like 400 copies. And then Robby's like, ‘We got a fan base. They're not going to know who we are.’ I'm like, ‘It's 400 people. They'll get over it.’”
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The Goo Goo Dolls perform in January 2014Related: Goo Goo... Dads! Johnny Rzeznik and Robby Takac Swap Notes on Fatherhood and Discuss Co-Sleeping
The soft-rock group inevitably stuck with Goo Goo Dolls — and found even further success, selling far more than 400 records. “It's been a long ride, man. It's been crazy,” the “Slide” singer added. “We're still crushing it, bro.”
Last year, the Grammy-nominated band released their thirteenth studio album, Chaos in Bloom, which Rzeznik helped to co-produce. They then took the release out on the road and supported it with a massive North American tour throughout spring and summer 2023.
The “Here Is Gone” band continued releasing music this year, as well: Most recently, they dropped the Christmas song “Who’s Gonna Hear Their Wish?” and ahead of their tour dates they shared “Run All Night.”
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In 2022, shortly after the group’s alt-rock hit “Iris” — which originally appeared on the soundtrack for the 1998 film City of Angels — reached over a billion streams, Rzeznik opened up to PEOPLE about its continued success.
"I'm just happy I wrote that song, that's all," he said in a September 2022 interview. "I'm happy that people can still relate to it, and that it still means something to the next generation."
He added, "It's like, how can you not be? I don't know, that's always kind of bugged me when I would hear an artist say, 'Oh, I'm so sick of that song.' That song is the reason why this person's talking to you right now… It's a privilege to get out there and do this. You have to be grateful for the songs that brought you success."
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