Goo Goo Dolls is an alternative rock band formed in 1986 in Buffalo, New York by John Rzeznik and Robby Takac. Goo Goo Dolls initially consisted of John Rzeznik (vocals, guitar), Robby Takac (vocals, bass guitar) and George Tutuska (drums, percussion). While Takac and Tutuska had been long-time friends in school, Rzeznik was playing in the band The Beaumonts, with Takac’s cousin. The three founded the band under the name Sex Maggots. However, when a club owner booked the band, he requested they change the name, as the local newspaper could not print their current name. The trio picked the current name out of a True Detective newspaper ad for a toy called a Goo Goo Doll. "We were young and we were a garage band, not trying to get a deal. We had a gig that night and needed a name. It's the best we came up with, and for some reason it stuck. If I had five more minutes, I definitely would have picked a better name" John stated. With Takac as their lead singer, the band released their first album, Goo Goo Dolls in 1986 on Mercenary Records, but was picked up in 1987 by Celluloid Records, a larger record company. The band released its second album, Jed, in 1989 after moving to Los Angeles. Shortly after recording the band's fifth album A Boy Named Goo, George Tutuska was asked to leave the band after Rzeznik quit because he couldn't be in the same room with Tutuska. This was due to Tutuska claiming that he deserved a share of the royalties for contributing to the songwriting in the song "Fallin' Down", which Rzeznik was receiving monthly checks for. Takac asked Tutuska to leave and Rzeznik to come back. The band moved forward from this December 31, 1994 incident. The band hired Mike Malinin and toured rigorously.

Rzeznik was approached to write a song for the City of Angels soundtrack, and the end product was "Iris", which propelled the band to stardom, as it stayed on top of Billboard Hot 100 Airplay charts for 18 weeks, and was nominated for three Grammys that year. According to interviews with Rzeznik, he was experiencing serious bouts of writers' block when he was approached to write a song for the City of Angels soundtrack, and, according to Rzeznik, he was on the verge of quitting the band days before he wrote the song that would launch the band to worldwide fame.On November 13th, 2007, the band released a greatest hits album entitled Greatest Hits Volume One: The Singles and have plans to release a "career retrospective collection" in the near future. Their 2nd Greatest Hits CD filled with B-Sides, Rarities, and a live performance DVD is rumored to be released sometime in 2008. The CD currently has no release date.Also; on their official website under the tour section, they have officially announced recording sessions for a new album unrelated to the Greatest Hits Vol. 2. It reads: "The boys are headed into the studio to record the new album - we'll keep you posted on any special appearances."