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Steven J. Horowitz
Senior Music Writer
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picture alliance via Getty Image Earlier this year, Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” had another sudden resurgence — one of many since its release in 1998 — after social media users and celebrities spanning Drew Barrymore to Kevin Bacon used the song to showcase photos of what they looked like in the 1990s. By late September, the melancholy ballad had become a staple in the top 10 of the Spotify Global 50 chart, ranking ahead of freshly released singles from Ariana Grande and BTS.
“Iris” is one of several songs that have had second (or third, or fourth) lives decades after their original release, joining tracks like Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” and the Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” in a new school of hits from older eras. But as catalog tunes have become commonplace in contemporary culture (nearly half the songs on Global 50 were released before 2025), the question of what the Recording Academy could — or should? — do to honor popular songs outside of the eligibility cycle has become a sticking point for artists with this type of renewed success.
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