Alternative rock band Goo Goo Dolls have been active in the music scene for nearly 40 years, getting their start in Buffalo, New York’s underground.

With hundreds of songs in their catalog, bassist and singer Robby Takac said it’s tough to pick which 25 songs they’ll play for the fans in attendance on Friday, Aug. 22, show at Starlight Theatre (tickets are available from $52 to $198.75).

The two-person band of John Rzeznik and Takac has been together since they were 19 and 20 years old, respectively, and have seen it all since their self-titled debut album was released in 1987.

Their newest seven-song EP, “Summer Anthem,” also releases Friday with singles “Nothing Lasts Forever,” and “Not Goodbye (Close My Eyes)” available on streaming services now.

It’s also a year of celebration, as it marks 30 years since the band’s album “A Boy Named Goo,” and their four-time Grammy-nominated mega hit “Iris” is certified Diamond and totals over 5 billion streams worldwide. It’s been covered by so many artists, featured in movies beyond the film it was originally written for (1998’s “City of Angels”) and a hometown performance of the song in the rain is constantly mentioned among the all-time great live performances.

The Star’s Joseph Hernandez spoke with Takac about staying on the music scene for so long, performing their new release and living in the shadows of “Iris” ahead of their co-headlining show with emo band Dashboard Confessional.

An interview with The Goo Goo Dolls’ Robby Takac

Hernandez: I believe this is the 30th anniversary of “A Boy Named Goo?”

Takac: Yeah, it is. That’s crazy right? We’ll be doing a few songs from that on the tour.

Sorry if this makes you feel old, but I was not born when that album came out or when you guys started.

You know it makes me feel? It makes me feel very lucky that I’m still able to sit here and talk to guys like you that are still interested in what we’re doing. That’s a pretty cool thing.

We’ve been through a crazy series of events the past few months. We were in the “Deadpool & Wolverine” movie, we did a thing on “American Idol,” which was their highest-rated show, and we did a performance at Stagecoach, which there were 45,000 people at. Stagecoach is largely a country festival, but they had play in this tent that had a whole bunch of different bands, like the Backstreet Boys, Sammy Hagar, Creed, Tommy James & the Shondells, The Bacon Brothers, Nelly. I think every single one of those people put a clip (of our performance) on Instagram or TikTok because the next day it just exploded and was all over the place.

We did a show in Buffalo years ago during a big rainstorm and we recorded that performance of “Iris” and that exploded after that, and then you know a couple of memes online where people were using our songs and Machine Gun Kelly recorded “Iris,” and all of a sudden all of these things are driving that song forward.

You know, the variety of ages that have been coming to our shows up until now has been crazy because let’s face it, we’re a band you can listen to with your kids. We’re not spending the whole record dropping F-bombs, we make records we can listen to with your family, and a lot of families are coming to see us now, which is a pretty amazing thing to see. I’m super excited to see all this momentum that we see happening right now affect that part of the show. I can nearly guarantee you that there will be a lot of younger people at our show.

It’s an exciting time for us.

Is it surprising for you to have been in the industry so long and to still see people come out and see you, this time with their kids?

One time we opened for The Rolling Stones, and we got to hang out with those guys a couple of times. And we were talking to Mick Jagger and we were saying that exact same thing to him. It’s amazing to see and you know, a lot of these young people heard our records when they were younger, too. They found a place in today’s pop culture and it’s amazing.

What do you remember about past performances in Kansas City?

I don’t remember anything specifically, but I imagine we were back here with OAR in 2023. Kansas City has been a consistent stop for us for decades. I think it was the Grand Emporium and there were a couple of other clubs that we used to play back in the 1980s and 1990s that are no longer around.

It’s always been a great town for rock music.

Being from Buffalo, is there any contempt for the city because of the Chiefs and Bills rivalry?

I don’t talk religion, sports or politics on camera.

Going back to “Iris,” did you think that would take off and be as relevant as it is today when you recorded it? Did you think it’d have this lasting impact and be the song people my age would find you guys through?

I could never predict that kind of thing. It’s crazy what’s going on with that song right now. When we were working on it and John and I were sitting on the floor in front of the console and just recorded this acoustic guitar idea he played for the producer of the movie, and there was a full orchestra set up in the other room playing the song. We definitely felt the seismic shift in our careers at that point.

We hadn’t made “Dizzy Up The Girl” yet, and the previous record was “A Boy Named Goo,” that we made with a guy named Lou Giordano out in the woods, so it was kind of sequestered out there. No one gave a (expletive) about The Goo Goo Dolls, but we had a hit on the record. “Name,” was a big song and people were paying attention to us.

We didn’t record “Iris” for us, we recorded it for “City of Angels.” Through some fortunate language in our contract, we were able to put that song on our album that was coming out after that and we ended up releasing an album with the No. 1 song on it, which was pretty amazing.

You never would’ve guessed. I mean, U2, Alanis Morissette, Sarah McLachlan, Peter Gabriel, so many different groups were on that soundtrack. I don’t think we ever really thought we were going to get a single, but it turned out to be the biggest one. We didn’t expect it, but we knew there was a shift as we were making that song for sure.

It’s always been our biggest song since we released it. It’s a fortunate shadow to be able to jump in and out of, but it’s something we can never get away from. It’s our “Free Bird,” our “Stairway to Heaven.” You’re fortunate to be a band that can have that moment and we can take that moment anywhere on the planet and it works. Most people don’t have that, but it’s also a pretty big shadow.

We have a new record coming out, but you and I are sitting here talking about “Iris.” That’s the trade off, but I’ll tell you I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

You have the new album coming out. What inspires you guys to keep writing?

I just don’t think we know what else to do, man. This is what we’ve been doing our lives so I guess that’s what happens when you get to do it for so long. The process is different now than it used to be, but I still feel like once it all comes together and we get out there, your records are your records but ultimately you need to be able to work those songs into your show and see if they work, and I think we’ve been really successful in figuring out a way to keep the band growing and at the same time, making it still works with the bigger picture that everybody has grown to know.

You just need to make those steps. If you listen to our first record that came out in 1986 and our last record, there is no way you’d think that is the same band. There’s absolutely no way. It’s almost impossible to draw a line unless you see the 15 albums that it took to get there. None of those jumps are outrageous, it’s just most groups don’t get to see what happens after 40 years of being able to be a band.

Part of that is the age we grew up through. There was much more artist development within the music industry back then. Now there’s a ton of development, but it’s all online. People are doing it with their own resources and on platforms that they can share. The music industry groomed artists — in good and bad ways.

They would find a songwriter and say “Wow, we believe in this person,” and they would invest in this person’s career, and that first record didn’t do great, but they thought the songs were great and were like, “Don’t worry, dude. This second record is going to kill.” They gave them the chance to not necessarily fail, but to be the artist they needed to be to get to the point of being a great artist. They were a little bit more willing to work with that back then.

Now, I think you've got to walk in with 2 million TikTok followers or they don’t even want to talk to you anymore. It’s really changed, but we were very fortunate and benefited from all these different phases. I don’t know if I would’ve said that a few years ago because we didn’t feel it then. I think with all the things we were talking about with the younger people getting to know who the group is has really opened up a new audience for us.

Years ago, it just felt like, you know, people weren’t buying albums anymore, and they were getting our songs for free. A few years ago, you really started to see momentum building and hopefully it keeps moving in that direction.