A new exhibit, “Long Way Home: 40 Years of the Goo Goo Dolls,” will open September 16, 2026 at the The Buffalo History Museum. The exhibition traces the band’s 40-year trajectory, following John Rzeznik and Robby Takac from their underground, early club gigs in Buffalo to selling out massive arenas worldwide.
The title draws its name from the closing track of the band’s 2016 studio album Boxes.
John Rzeznik grew up on East Lovejoy Street in East Buffalo, just eight houses away from the intersection of Clark and Kent Streets. The band’s music publishing company was later named Corner of Clark and Kent.
Trackmaster/Chameleonwest Studios at 564 Franklin Street in the Allentown neighborhood was the recording place for pieces of every album up through A Boy Named Goo. The acoustic track “Two Days in February” was recorded on the sidewalk outside the front door and Buffalo traffic can be heard in the background.
The now-closed punk hub Continental Club at 212 Franklin Street is where the band got their start in 1985 originally performing under the name Sex Maggots
Milkie’s (The Elmwood Lounge) at 522 Elmwood Avenue served as another home for the band, where they collaborated with Buffalo lounge singer Lance Diamond, who provided vocals on several early tracks, including “Never Take the Place of Your Man.”
Rzeznik and Takac, alongside their earliest producers, have been collaborating with museum staff to design the experience, which will span eight galleries. The exhibit will include dozens of rare archival photographs captured by the local photographers who documented their formative years.
Visitors will also be able to physically interact with functional cassette decks and legacy CD players.
The exhibition will premiere just days after the conclusion of the Goo Goo Dolls’ 2026 summer tour, which wraps up on September 6th.
To promote the exhibit the Museum has shared a promotional video, which can be seen here.
Check out the Goo Goo Dolls performing “Iris” in the pouring rain in Buffalo in 2004 here.
Read more about Buffalo History.
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