The Blenders are a vocal quartet based in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

(not to be confused with the 1960s vocal quartet of the same name that was led by

Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to: Academics *Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager *Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, a ...

, appeared on the ''

Lawrence Welk Show ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 16 years on ABC from 1955 t ...

'' for two years, and disbanded in 1967).

History

Originally from

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo ( /ˈfɑɹɡoʊ/) is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, United States. According to the 2020 census, its population was 125,990, making it the most populous city in the state and the 219th-most populous city in ...

, the four members of the Blenders, Tim Kasper, Ryan Lance, Darren Rust and Allan Rust (replacing original member Paul Dunkirk), built up their fan base on the strength of a primarily

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

singing style. Although their music in later years has included instrument-backed recordings, there has always been a focus on the Blenders' own style of vocal-based harmonies. The group has toured the U.S. with such acts as

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009 ...

Howie Mandel Howard Michael Mandel (born November 29, 1955) is a Canadian-American comedian, television personality, actor, and producer. Mandel voiced the character Gizmo in the 1984 film ''Gremlins'' and the 1990 sequel '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch''. I ...

Savage Garden Savage Garden was an Australian pop duo consisting of Darren Hayes on vocals and Daniel Jones on instruments. Formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1993, the duo achieved international success from the mid-1990s to early 2000s with the No. ...

Jonny Lang Jon Gordon Langseth Jr. (born January 29, 1981), known as Jonny Lang, is an American blues, gospel, and rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has made five albums that have charted on the top 50 of the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and has wo ...

Blues Traveler Blues Traveler (formerly known as "The Establishment" or "The Black Cat Jam" or "The Establishment Blues Band") is an American rock band that formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. They are known for extensive use of segues in live performance ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

The Righteous Brothers The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the Los ...

Lou Rawls Louis Allen Rawls (December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006) was an American record producer, singer, composer and actor. Rawls released more than 60 albums, sold more than 40 million records, and had numerous charting singles, most notably his s ...

and

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

. They have appeared on a variety of national and regional television shows, including ''

The Arsenio Hall Show ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' is an American syndicated late-night talk show created by and starring comedian Arsenio Hall. There have been two different incarnations of ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. The original series premiered on January 3, 1989, ...

'', ''The Today Show'' and ''

Crook & Chase ''Crook & Chase'' is an American television talk show hosted by Lorianne Crook and Charlie Chase, focusing primarily, but not exclusively, on country music. The pair had first worked together on the weekly syndicated program "This Week In Count ...

''. Their music has been used for films such as ''

The Perfect Holiday ''The Perfect Holiday'' is a 2007 comedy film directed by Lance Rivera, starring Gabrielle Union, Morris Chestnut, Charlie Murphy (actor), Charlie Murphy, and Terrence Howard, and is produced by Academy Award-nominated actress Queen Latifah, who al ...

'' and ''

Nothing like the Holidays ''Nothing Like the Holidays'' is a 2008 film about a Puerto Rican family living in the area of Humboldt Park, Chicago facing what may be their last Christmas together. It was directed by Alfredo De Villa, written by Rick Najera, Ted Perkins, and ...

''. Their albums usually include some of their own original songs, plus covers of music that ranges from standards to decidedly non-traditional fare. They have recorded for four different labels: Cowtown Records, Primarily A Cappella, Orchard Lane Records (A former division of the

Musicland Group The Musicland Group, Inc. was an entertainment company that ran Musicland, Sam Goody, Discount Records, Suncoast Motion Picture Company, On Cue, and the Media Play Superstore Chains. The Musicland Group was purchased by Best Buy in 2001 at the hei ...

) and

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. Their release for Orchard Lane was co-produced by former member of

Prince (musician) Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958April 21, 2016), more commonly known mononymously as Prince, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. The recipient of numerous awards and nominations, he is widely regarded as one ...

New Power Generation The New Power Generation, also known as The NPG, was the backing band of musician Prince from 1990 to 2013. They were replaced by 3rdeyegirl as his backing band in 2013. In 2015, the New Power Generation reunited as Prince's backing band for ...

Levi Seacer, Jr. Levi Seacer Jr. (born April 30, 1961) is an American musician. He was an early associate of Sheila E. when he was tapped by Prince to form a new touring band after the demise of The Revolution in 1986. Seacer became the band's bassist, as wel ...

The Blenders spent their early years, beginning in the '90s, touring hundreds of colleges and universities across the country. The Blenders found international success with a number one hit in a handful of European countries with a remake of

Dean Friedman Dean Friedman (born May 23, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter who plays piano, keyboard, guitar and other instruments, including the harmonica. Although considered a one-hit wonder in the US, he has had multiple singles chart in other terr ...

's quirky song, "(I am in Love With the) McDonald's Girl." The Blenders received the Contemporary Artist of the Year award by the

National Association for Campus Activities The National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) is an organization designed to provide information and resources for campus activities programmers throughout the United States and Canada. Formed in 1960, NACA links the higher education and ...

. The Blenders have become known for their Christmas music, and have been staging a Christmas Tour in theaters (mostly in the Midwest) since 1997. The Blenders have performed on

Minneapolis–Saint Paul Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area in the Upper Midwestern United States centered around the confluence of the Mississippi, Minnesota and St. Croix rivers in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is commonly known as the Twin Cities ...

area television commercials. In December 2005, The Blenders sang their original song "Tiny Little Christmas," and the following year repeated with "When it Snows" in an advertisement for

KARE-TV KARE (channel 11) is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, serving the Twin Cities area as an NBC affiliate. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on Olson Memorial Highway ( MN 55) in Golden Val ...

promoting

Toys for Tots Toys for Tots is a program run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve which distributes toys to children whose parents cannot afford to buy them gifts for Christmas. The program was founded in 1947 by reservist Major Bill Hendricks. The ...

. They also appeared in an ad, singing

KMSP-TV KMSP-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, broadcasting the Fox network to the Twin Cities area. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetwo ...

's morning news theme song ("Wake Up with FOX 9") while riding a Metro Blue Line light-rail train. Their work with KMSP has won them three

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for advertising. They had a McDonald's commercial airing nationwide featuring their version of "McDonald's Girl".

Discography

*''Totally Whipped'' (1992) *''From The Mouth'' (1994) *''The Blenders'' (1995) *''Nog'' (1997) *''Now and Then'' (1997) *''Loveland'' (1999) *''When it Snows'' (2002) *''Holiday Best'' (2004) - compilation from ''Nog'' and ''When it Snows'' + 1 new song ("I'll be Home for Christmas") *''Most Wonderful Time'' (2005) *''Songs From the Soul'' (2006) *''The Blenders: Christmas Collection'' (2007) - 2 CDs with all of The Blenders' holiday songs *''Christmas with the Blenders: Live in Concert'' (2007) - DVD *''Songs From the Soul Vol. II'' (2008) *"McDonald's Girl" - Single (2011) *"Christmas Light" (2011) * ”25” (2015) * “Holy Night” (2017)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blenders, The Musical groups from Minnesota Universal Records artists