Goo Goo Dolls' John Rzeznik Reveals If He's Ever Had Sex to the Band's Hit Song 'Iris'

"Iris," released in 1998, is considered by some fans to be one of the most romantic ballads in pop music history

NEED TO KNOW

• Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik was asked in a recent interview if he’s ever had sex to the band’s hit song “Iris”
• “Iris,” released in 1998 and featured on the City of Angels movie soundtrack, is considered by some fans to be one of the most romantic ballads in pop music history
• Rzeznik performed alongside Billy Corgan at the 2026 Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala on June 11

John Rzeznik doesn't want to hear his own music in the bedroom.

The Goo Goo Dolls frontman, 60, was asked in a recent interview if he's ever had sex to the band's hit song "Iris" — and he immediately cringed at the thought.

“No, never!” he told Page Six at the 2026 Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala in New York City on June 11. “I can't — oh, my God, can you imagine that?"

Rzeznik, who has been married to wife Melina Gallo since 2013, then gestured as if calling over to a woman, and said, “Hey, baby, listen to this. Yeah, here it comes!"

He joked that he suspected there were musicians in attendance at the event "who have done that."

Rzeznik wrote "Iris," which was released in 1998, for the City of Angels movie soundtrack. The song, which has surpassed 3 billion streams on Spotify and became the Buffalo-born band's defining hit, is considered by some fans to be one of the most romantic songs in pop music history, with lyrics including, "I'd give up forever to touch you," and "You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be."

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Earlier this year, Rzeznik spoke about how watching the film — which stars Nicolas Cage as an angel who falls in love with a mortal woman (Meg Ryan) and wishes to become human to be with her — inspired the emotional lyrics.

"This guy is an angel. He's immortal," he said during an interview with Genius that was released in January. "He's willing to give up that immortality because he's never felt and he wants to see what it feels like to be human. And he falls in love with this woman, but he has to make this leap."

"I just thought that was a beautiful thing," the "Come to Me" singer recalled.

"I'm not going to say he was obsessed with her … but this is where he's at," Rzeznik continued. "She's taken over his existence, and it hurts, you know."

Reflecting on the scene in the movie when Cage's angel character makes a symbolic leap off the top of a skyscraper to become human, Rzeznik said, "We've all done that."

"We've all had to take the risk of, you know, asking someone out on a date and risking the pain and rejection of that kind of thing," he explained. "But he did it."

Rzeznik told Genius that "the hook" of the song is that it's "just easily relatable to" listeners.

"I think we all want that, you know?" he said, referring to the type of love story depicted in "Iris" and City of Angels. "That's the whole point."

At the Songwriters Hall of Fame event, Rzeznik took the stage alongside the Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan to perform "Shout It Out Loud" in tribute to KISS' Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.

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