Our “In My Room” IGTV video series has had Brian Wilson, Lucinda Williams, Nick Lowe, and many others performing from their homes. The latest to participate: Johnny Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls.
Before COVID-19 hit, the Goo Goo Dolls were on tour in the U.K., playing music off 2019’s Miracle Pill, their 12th album. Rzeznik has said he wrote it about “living in a state of this chronic, low-grade anxiety. And I think it’s really starting to wear people down.”
“I hope you’re all good feeling good, we’re all gonna get this together, stay safe,” Rzeznik said from his home in New Jersey. Then he launched into a series of new songs: “Fearless,” which the band recently released as a lyric video, and “Miracle Pill,” about how love can heal even during the darkest times.
Rzeznik wrapped with 2006’s “Better Days,” which has lyrics that could be about our current moment: “I wish everyone was loved tonight, and somehow stop this endless fight,” Rzeznik sings. “Just a chance that maybe we’ll find better days.”
In 2018, the band celebrated the 20th anniversary of 1998’s Dizzy Up the Girl with a huge tour. The album was certified four times platinum and included the Number One hit “Iris.”
“I got done doing the Dizzy Up the Girl 20th anniversary tour. By the end, that tour really informed me a lot about where I need to be as a writer, as an artist and as a performer. Because every night it took me back to that time,” Rzeznik told Forbes. “It kind of emboldened me to get off that tour, get right to work and get a new album out.”
Rzeznik’s session follows performances by Sting, Joan Jett, Fuerza Regida, Lauv, Waxahatchee, Lucinda Williams, James Bay, Lukas Nelson, Nathaniel Rateliff, Steve Earle, Graham Nash, Yola, John Fogerty, Grace Potter, and more. To support musicians undergoing financial hardship, please consider giving to the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund or MusiCares’ COVID-19 Relief Fund — to which TikTok pledged $2 million.
