Billy Joel was joined by Goo Goo Dolls‘ John Rzeznik at a Buffalo show this weekend to perform the band’s hit single ‘Iris’ – watch footage below.
Joel was performing at the Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park to a crowd of vaccinated fans on Saturday night (August 14).
“Welcome to my hometown,” Rzeznik told Joel before the duo ran through a thunderous rendition of the 1998 hit, with Joel playing piano and Rzeznik on acoustic guitar.
Watch footage of Billy Joel and John Rzeznik performing ‘Iris’ at the weekend below:
Last year, ‘Iris’ was covered by Phoebe Bridgers and Maggie Rogers. Ahead of the US presidential election last November, Bridgers tweeted: “if trump loses I will cover iris by the goo goo dolls.”
When Joe Biden was confirmed to be the next President of the United States, the musician kept to her word and roped Rogers in to help her out. They released the cover as a download for 24 hours, with proceeds going to Democrat Stacey Abrams’ voting rights organisation, Fair Fight.
“It was all this weird, wild inside joke that somehow everyone else was in on,” Rogers reflected later. “It’s funny to know a friend so well, but then as an artist getting to see her in the studio… seeing her work just make everything make sense.”
Elsewhere, Goo Goo Dolls recently released a career-spanning ‘Rarities’ LP, made up of unreleased gems, remixes, and more.
Formed in 1985, the New York rock group’s new collection will feature 20 songs released between 1995 to 2007.
The album includes live versions of ‘Let Love In’ and ‘Listen’ recorded at the legendary Capitol Studios in Hollywood, plus acoustic recordings of ‘Iris’, ‘Slide’, and ‘Name’.