Goo Goo Dolls launch Summer Anthem Tour 2025 in Phoenix

“Nothing Lasts Forever” is the name of the Goo Goo Dolls’ new single. Arriving on the doorstep of four decades of playing together, John Rzeznik (vocals, guitar) and Robby Takac (bass, vocals) are certainly putting that sentiment to the test.

In fact, not much about the band gives an impression of things ending. That single and its new video dropped today, and the band is in the middle of their Summer Anthem Tour 2025, with a stop in Phoenix on July 13 at Arizona Financial Theatre.

And oh, yeah, they’re currently working on their 15th album. You might think that after so many times of hitting the studio to go through the recording process, a ‘been there, done that’ ’tude could prevail, but bassist Robby Takac says otherwise.

“I think, honestly, these days it’s a little hard to say you’ve done everything you wanna do in the studio because that’s a place that really changes all the time. Everything you do — from what you do to how you use the studio is changing drastically, so there are always things to learn. For our last record, “Chaos in Bloom,” we went out to Woodstock and rented an old church there, and our friend Greg Wattenberg (producer) came in towards the end of the project and got involved and helped us out.”

Forty years is a long time for a relationship to last, be it a band, marriage or business. Great when it works, but that just isn’t always the case, for a myriad of reasons. Takac says it’s a combination of things that keeps the Goo Goo Dolls going, but really, it’s his and Rzeznik’s relationship at the core.
“We’ve had some changes for sure, but the short answer is that we both still wanna do this, so we’re able to figure out how to make it happen. We’ve been doing this so long, so we know each other. We know when we need space, we know when it’s time to get together and make something happen, and we know when we gotta put the BS aside and just get to work,” he says.

Part of their motivation includes an audience that continues to grow. “We have been pretty fortunate recipients of the benefits of a lot of what goes on with social media. We’ve managed to be a topic of conversation for influencer musicians, and there have been a lot of memes that have popped up with our songs in them. We recently did a performance at the Stagecoach Festival, and within two days after that show, we sold 15,000 tickets for our tour. That’s the power of social media.”

“Iris” is one of the band’s most popular songs, and Takac says it is still instrumental in helping them reach new people.

“It’s funny. Iris, that song, man, it has legs. Every once in a while, like two weeks ago, it was number 19 on the international Spotify chart. Wow. It’s crazy. And quite often, we’ll see things like the song going number one in Belgium. We’ll research it and see that someone sang it on a show like “Belgium’s Got Talent” or something. Like I said, we’ve been fortunate enough to have these things affect us in really positive ways, and having it happen as we get ready for this tour, that’s a great thing for us.” The band even joined Mattie Pruitt, a finalist on “America’s Got Talent,” in May to sing the song with her on the finale.

He also adds that “Iris” being on the “Deadpool & Wolverine” soundtrack didn’t hurt, either. “That’s a whole new audience. That song has really opened some doors for us.”

Goo Goo Dolls are ready for a summer of rock, and not only about getting to play. “We’re gonna have Dashboard Confessional with us and they’re an amazing, amazing band.”

So, we can guess “Iris” is gonna be on that setlist. What else might happen?”

“We’re going to do our best to play all the songs we think people wanna hear and break out some of the ones we wish they were more familiar with, including some of the new songs.”

Goo Goo Dolls with Dashboard Confessional Summer Anthem Tour 2025 is at 7:30 p.m. on July 13 at Arizona Financial Theatre. Ticket prices vary.