What Was the Song of the Summer? This 1998 Bop Resurfaces

Photo Credit: Kevin Castel

What was the song of the summer for 2025? Add the Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” from 1998 to the short list—proving summer hits can be from any decade.

The track was originally written for the film City of Angels (1998) and has resurfaced on social media, featuring on playlists and TikTok. According to Spotify data, the track reached the top of the platform’s global viral 50 in July 2025, breaking into the mainstream pop charts after nearly three decades.

Even Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik says the track resurfacing has been a new career peak for him. “This is the biggest the band has ever been,” Rzeznik highlighted in a recent The Wall Street Journal profile about the song’s re-surging popularity among Gen Z. The song featured prominently in the soundtrack for last year’s Deadpool & Wolverine, but there’s been plenty of interest in 2025. Why?

A combination of nostalgia, TikTok virality, and cultural context likely helped propel the track into this spot. For people like me, the song is a throwback to entering their teens and hearing it play on the radio. For Gen Z, the song resonates in a new way as millions who watched the Marvel movie now feature the song in their TikTok videos with its wistful sound playing in the background.

Still for others, the popularity of the song could be taken from the reality romance series Love Island on the Peacock streaming platform. The series started airing in June and continued nightly through early to mid-July. One of the fan-favorite contestants on the hit dating show was named Iris. As fans of Love Island began making playlists for their favorite contestants on Spotify, the Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” got a lot of extra attention.

Of course, “Iris” isn’t the only older track finding unexpected mainstream attention. Jess Glynne’s 2015 single “Hold My Hand” is also charting on TikTok’s review of ‘Songs of the Summer’ for its platform. Other songs released in previous decades that feature on the global list include the Black Eyed Peas’ “Rock That Body” (2009), Jeezy’s “Soul Survivor” (2005), and Connie Francis’ eternal classic “Pretty Little Baby” (1962).