Goo Goo Dolls' 'Iris' is No. 9 on Spotify, 28 years after Billboard kept it off the Hot 100

Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" spent 18 weeks at No. 1 on US radio airplay in 1998 but could not enter the Hot 100, because Billboard then only charted songs sold as commercial singles; it got in after the rule changed in December 1998 and peaked at No. 9. On November 3, 2026 it was No. 9 on Spotify's global daily chart.

By RiffiterNovember 7, 2026

Goo Goo Dolls in Syracuse, New York, August 2023. Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

On November 3, Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" was No. 9 on Spotify's global daily chart, per kworb's record of the Spotify charts. In 1998 the same song spent 18 weeks at No. 1 on American radio and still could not get onto the Billboard Hot 100, because Billboard only counted songs you could buy as a single.

No single, no Hot 100

In 1998 "Iris" held No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay chart for 18 weeks, per Wikipedia's chart history and Dave's Music Database. The main Hot 100 worked on a different rule at the time: a song could only enter if it was sold in stores as a commercial single.

There was no "Iris" single to buy. The song was only on two albums, the City of Angels soundtrack in April 1998 and the band's own Dizzy Up the Girl in September. So for 18 weeks the No. 1 song on American radio had no place on Billboard's main singles chart.

Billboard changes the rule

In December 1998 Billboard dropped the rule, and songs without a commercial single could chart. "Iris" entered the Hot 100 on the chart dated December 5, 1998, and got as high as No. 9. Wikipedia and Dave's Music Database both give the No. 9 peak.

Chart	When	Position
Billboard Hot 100 Airplay	1998	No. 1 for 18 weeks
Billboard Hot 100	from December 5, 1998	No. 9 peak
Spotify global daily	November 3, 2026	No. 9

Named after a singer

The title comes from a real person, the singer Iris DeMent, per Wikipedia (citing a 2019 Classic Rock interview) and Dave's Music Database.

Iris DeMent on stage in Texas in April 2007 — Iris DeMent at the Old Settler's Music Festival in Driftwood, Texas, April 2007. Photo: Ron Baker, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Back on the chart

Twenty-eight years later, "Iris" is back near the top. On November 3 it was No. 9 on Spotify's global daily chart, the same number it peaked at on the Hot 100 in 1998.

John Rzeznik of Goo Goo Dolls has said in an interview with Genius that when people want to tell him their own story about the song, "it still moves me."

Goo Goo Dolls at Sea Hear Now in Asbury Park in September 2026 — John Rzeznik and Goo Goo Dolls at the Sea Hear Now festival in Asbury Park, New Jersey, September 2026. Photo: ANTbook365, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

On October 25, sombr brought Rzeznik out at the Kia Center in Orlando to sing "Iris" with him. A fan filmed it and put the video on YouTube the next day, and JamBase reported the guest spot.

sombr singing on stage in London in June 2025 — sombr on stage at Islington Academy, London, June 2025, months before the Orlando show. Photo: Drew de F Fawkes, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The question

Would "Iris" have reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 1998 without the single rule? Nobody can prove it either way. But 18 weeks at No. 1 on American radio is a strong case that it would have.