Hootie & the Blowfish are an American soft rock band that were formed in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-largest ...

, in 1986. The band's lineup for most of its existence has been the quartet of

Darius Rucker Darius Carlos Rucker (born May 13, 1966) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He first gained fame as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, which he founded in 1986 at the University of South Ca ...

, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim Sonefeld. The band went on hiatus in 2008 until they announced plans for a full reunion tour in 2019 and released their first new studio album in fourteen years, '' Imperfect Circle''. , Hootie & the Blowfish had won two Grammy Awards, had landed sixteen singles on various '' Billboard'' singles charts, and had recorded six studio albums. The band's debut album, ''

Cracked Rear View ''Cracked Rear View'' is the debut studio album by Hootie & the Blowfish, released on July 5, 1994, by Atlantic Records. Released to positive critical reviews, it eventually sold 10.2 million copies in the United States, becoming one of the best- ...

'' (1994), is the 19th-best-selling album of all time in the United States and was

certified platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

21 times. The band is known for its three Top 10 singles: "Hold My Hand" (1994), "Let Her Cry" (1994), and "Only Wanna Be with You" (1995). The band is also popular in Canada, having had three number-one singles in that country.

History

Early years

and Mark Bryan met in

, in the mid-1980s when they were both freshmen at the University of South Carolina.Bashe, P. R., & George-Warren, H., ''The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll'' (Third ed.). New York, Fireside, 2005, p. 443 Bryan, a guitar player, heard Rucker singing in the showers of the dorm they shared and was impressed by his vocal ability. The pair began playing cover tunes as the Wolf Brothers. Eventually they collaborated with bassist Dean Felber, a former high school bandmate of Bryan's, and Brantley Smith, a drummer. In 1986, they adopted the name Hootie & the Blowfish, a conjunction of the nicknames of two of their college friends. The band is routinely featured in articles and polls about badly-named bands. Rucker is often mistaken as being the "Hootie" in the band's name. Smith left the group after finishing college to pursue music ministry, but he has made scattered guest appearances with the band (he played cello on their ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...

'' performance in 1996, and played drums at Gruene Hall in Gruene, Texas, on June 27, 2008). Smith was replaced by Jim "Soni" Sonefeld. The band's lineup has remained the same ever since. The band independently released two cassette demo EPs in 1991 and 1992. In 1993, they pressed 50,000 copies of a self-released EP, '' Kootchypop''. They were signed to Atlantic Records in August 1993, after being discovered by Atlantic A&R representative Tim Sommer, a former music journalist and member of the art rock band

Hugo Largo Hugo Largo was an American musical group formed in 1984, known for their unique lineup: two bass guitars, a violin and singer/performance artist Mimi Goese. Their sound has been characterized as art rock, dream pop, ambient and avant-rock. Hist ...

. Sommer recalled that other record labels were uninterested in signing Hootie & The Blowfish because their sound was radically different from the grunge music that was popular at the time.

1994–1995: ''Cracked Rear View'' and mainstream success

Their mainstream debut album was ''

'' (1994). Released in July 1994, the album's popularity grew after its release, becoming the best-selling album of 1995, and was one of the fastest-selling debut albums of all time. The album, which was certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

in the United States in January 1995 and incrementally rose to 12× platinum by January 1996 and 16× platinum by March 1999. In May 2019, the certifications level was updated from 16× platinum to 21× platinum. The album featured four hits, " Hold My Hand" (U.S. No. 10), " Let Her Cry" (U.S. No. 9), " Only Wanna Be with You" (U.S. No. 6), and "

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

" (U.S. No. 14). The album's last single, "

Drowning Drowning is a type of suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where others present are either unaware of the victim's situation or unable to offer as ...

", was not as successful as its predecessors, peaking only on the

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

chart. In 1995, Hootie & the Blowfish and

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

reached an out-of-court settlement for the group's unauthorized use of Dylan's lyrics in their song "Only Wanna Be with You".

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

' Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino appeared along with several other athletes in the band's

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...

for the song "Only Wanna Be with You".

1996–1997: ''Fairweather Johnson'' and promotional singles

In 1995, Hootie & the Blowfish contributed the song " Hey, Hey, What Can I Do" to the ''

Encomium ''Encomium'' is a Latin word deriving from the Ancient Greek ''enkomion'' (), meaning "the praise of a person or thing." Another Latin equivalent is ''laudatio'', a speech in praise of someone or something. Originally was the song sung by the c ...

'' tribute album to

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

. Their cover of Canadian group 54-40's " I Go Blind", released on the soundtrack to the television series '' Friends'' in 1995, did not appear on ''Cracked Rear View'' or ''Fairweather Johnson'', but became a hit on radio in 1996 after three singles from ''Fairweather Johnson'' had been released. Both "Hey, Hey, What Can I Do" and "I Go Blind" were later released on the compilation ''Scattered, Smothered and Covered''. On February 28, 1996, at the

38th Annual Grammy Awards The 38th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 28, 1996, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. The awards recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Alanis Morissette was the main recipient, being awarded four trophies, i ...

, Hootie & the Blowfish won the Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (for the single "Let Her Cry") and the Grammy for "Best New Artist". The band appeared on ''MTV Unplugged'' on the eve of the release of their second album, ''

Fairweather Johnson ''Fairweather Johnson'' is the second studio album by American rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, released on April 23, 1996, through Atlantic Records. Three songs from the album were released as singles: "Old Man & Me", "Tucker's Town", and "Sad Ca ...

'' (1996). The album contained the hit single "Old Man and Me" (U.S. No. 13), and sold four million copies in the United States.

1998–2008: Middle years

In 1998, the band performed on

Frank Wildhorn Frank Wildhorn (born November 29, 1958) is an American composer of both musicals and popular songs. His musical ''Jekyll & Hyde'' ran for four years on Broadway. He also wrote the #1 International hit song "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" for Whitne ...

's concept album of the musical '' The Civil War''. Hootie & the Blowfish released their third studio album, ''

Musical Chairs Musical chairs, also known as Trip to Jerusalem, is a game of elimination involving players, chairs, and music. It is a staple of many parties worldwide. Gameplay A set of chairs is arranged with one fewer chair than the number of players ...

'', on September 15, 1998. It spawned the singles "I Will Wait" and "Only Lonely". The group covered the 1968 Orpheus hit "Can't Find the Time" for the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

of the Jim Carrey movie ''

Me, Myself & Irene ''Me, Myself & Irene'' is a 2000 American slapstick black comedy film directed by the Farrelly brothers, and starring Jim Carrey and Renée Zellweger. Chris Cooper, Robert Forster, Richard Jenkins, Daniel Greene, Anthony Anderson, Jerod Mixon an ...

'' (2000). The song's writer, Bruce Arnold, traded verses with Darius on several occasions when the band played live on the West Coast. The band kept to an extensive touring schedule, including an annual New Year's Eve show at

Silverton Las Vegas Silverton (formerly Boomtown Las Vegas) is a 300-room hotel and casino in Enterprise, Nevada, near the southern end of the Las Vegas Valley. It features a rustic lodge theme and a casino. It is owned and operated by Ed Roski Jr., and is located ...

(formerly known as Boomtown Las Vegas) in Enterprise, Nevada. The band released a

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

and rarities

compilation Compilation may refer to: *In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler **Compilation error **Compilation unit *Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products *Compilation thesis M ...

titled '' Scattered, Smothered and Covered'' (2000). This album is named in tribute of Waffle House, a popular Southern chain of all-night diners. Specifically, the title refers to an order of

hash browns Hash browns, also spelled hashed browns, are a popular American and British breakfast food, consisting of finely chopped potatoes that have been fried until browned. Hash browns first started appearing on breakfast menus in New York City in t ...

—shredded potatoes scattered on the grill, smothered with diced onions and covered with melted cheese. In 2003, the band released a self-titled album. In 2005, the band released '' Looking for Lucky''.

2008–2018: Hiatus and solo work

In 2008, Rucker announced in an AOL Sessions interview that the band would go on hiatus for several years so that Rucker could pursue a solo career as a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

performer. Rucker confirmed that the band would still perform their scheduled charity concerts, but added that they would not record or tour. Rucker later clarified that the band was not splitting up. In 2009, Hootie & the Blowfish performed live in a ballet which chronicled their rise and success in the 1990s. Rucker went on to record the solo albums '' Learn to Live'', '' Charleston, SC 1966'' '' True Believers'', '' Home for the Holidays'' and '' Southern Style''. The band reunited for a one-time performance on the '' Late Show with David Letterman'' in the run-up to Letterman's retirement from the show in May 2015. In August 2015, Darius Rucker said on ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It ...

'' that the band members were working on new songs and would record a new album when they had enough material. In 2015, the Irish band Music for Dead Birds released a song titled 'Hooty and the Blowfish', a slight misspelling of the group's name.

2019–present: New music and tour

On December 3, 2018, the band announced the 44-city Group Therapy Tour with Barenaked Ladies in 2019 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the release of ''

''. The tour began on May 30, 2019, in

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

and concluded on September 13 in their hometown of

. They also signed a new record deal with

UMG Nashville Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. Some of the labels in this group include MCA Nashville Records, Mercury Nashville Records, Lost Highway Records, Capitol Records Nashville and EMI Records N ...

." The band's sixth studio album, '' Imperfect Circle'', was released on November 1, 2019. In April 2020, the band released a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of R.E.M.'s "

Losing My Religion "Losing My Religion" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in February 1991 as the first single from the group's seventh album, '' Out of Time'' (1991). Built on a mandolin riff, the song was an unlikely hit for the grou ...

". In 2022, Sonefeld released a memoir entitled ''Swimming with a Blowfish: Hootie, Healing, and the Ride of a Lifetime'' ().

Record label

In 1996, Hootie & the Blowfish started their own record label, Breaking Records, as a subsidiary of

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

. They had planned to focus on signing local Carolina acts.

Edwin McCain Edwin Cole McCain (born January 20, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His songs " I'll Be" (1998) and "I Could Not Ask for More" (1999) were radio top-40 hits in the U.S., and five of his albums have reached the ''Billboard ...

and Cravin' Melon were associated with the label at one point but did not release any material on it.

The Meat Puppets ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, Jump, Little Children, Virginwool, Treadmill Trackstar and Treehouse released one album each on Breaking Records. The label folded in 2000.

Charity work

Hootie & the Blowfish have become known for their charity work. The entire band and crew traveled to New Orleans for five days of building houses in Musicians' Village, on October 16–20, 2006. The band's members are avid golfers, and have sponsored the annual spring Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am Golf Tournament, benefiting local charities, since 1995. Hootie & the Blowfish toured through the Middle East and Europe supporting American troops during a USO tour. On December 5, 1998, Darius Rucker broke into an a cappella solo of the US National Anthem during the lowering of colors on board , which was docked in

Jebel Ali Jebel Ali ( ar, جبل علي) is a port town south-west of Dubai. The Jebel Ali Port is located there. Al Maktoum International Airport has been constructed just outside the port area. Jebel Ali is connected to Dubai via the UAE Exchange (fo ...

, United Arab Emirates. The band then played an extended concert for crew members of the aircraft carrier. From 2005 to 2009, Hootie & the Blowfish performed at the Animal Mission's 'Party Animals' silent auction and concert to benefit the shelter animals in

. Each year the event raised over $100,000 and allowed the organization to provide a free spay/neuter program for the Southern community's pets. On October 18, 2008, Hootie & the Blowfish reunited to do a show at

Incirlik Air Base Incirlik Air Base ( tr, İncirlik Hava Üssü) is a Turkish air base of slightly more than 3320 ac (1335 ha), located in the İncirlik quarter of the city of Adana, Turkey. The base is within an urban area of 1.7 million people, east of ...

in Turkey. The band is a member of the Canadian charity Artists Against Racism and has worked with them on awareness campaigns like TV PSAs.

Musical style

Contrasting with the sound of their grunge contemporaries, the band's music was described as "a mainstream pop variation of blues rock" with "equal parts of

jam band A jam band is a musical group whose concerts (and live albums) are characterized by lengthy improvisational " jams." These include extended musical improvisation over rhythmic grooves and chord patterns, and long sets of music which often ...

grooves and MOR pop." The band's sound was also described as

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

, soft rock,

roots rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid subgenres from the later 1960s, including blues rock, country rock, Southern rock, ...

heartland rock Heartland rock is a genre of rock music characterized by a straightforward, often roots musical style, often with a focus on blue-collar workers, and a conviction that rock music has a social or communal purpose beyond just entertainment. The ge ...

, country rock, blues rock, and

college rock College rock was the alternative rock music played on student-run university and college campus radio stations located in the United States and Canada in the 1980s. The stations' playlists were often created by students who avoided the mainstream ...

Band members

Current members *

– lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1986–2008, 2018–present) * Mark Bryan – lead guitar, backing vocals, piano (1986–2008, 2018–present) * Dean Felber – bass guitar, backing vocals, piano (1986–2008, 2018–present) * Jim Sonefeld – drums, percussion, backing vocals, rhythm guitar (1989–2008, 2018–present) Current touring musicians * Gary Greene – percussion, drums, piano, banjo, backing vocals (1995–2000, 2001–2008, 2019–present) * Garry Murray – banjo, mandolin, fiddle, additional guitars, backing vocals (2019–present) * Lee Turner - keyboards, mandolin, accordion, additional guitars, backing vocals (2022-present) Former members * Brantley Smith – drums (1986–1989) Former touring musicians *

Peter Holsapple Peter Livingston Holsapple (born February 19, 1956) is an American musician, who formed, along with Chris Stamey, the dB's, a jangle-pop band from Winston-Salem, North Carolina.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongat ...

- keyboards, mandolin, accordion, lap steel guitar, additional guitars, backing vocals (1995-1998, 2003-2008, 2019-2021) * John Nau – keyboards, mandolin, harmonica (1994–1998, studio and occasional fill-in only; 1998–2003, studio artist and touring musician) * Philip "Fish" Fisher – percussion, drums (2000–2001)

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

*'' Kootchypop'' (1993)

Compilation albums

Singles

Music videos

Awards and nominations

American Music Award

The

American Music Award The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Produ ...

is an annual American music awards show. , - , rowspan="5" , 1996 , rowspan="4" , Hootie & the Blowfish ,

Artist of the Year ''Artist of the Year'' is a television competition shown on the Sky Arts channel (formerly known as Artsworld and Sky Arts 1) which aims to find the best portrait and landscape painter every year. Overview Through several rounds of regional comp ...

, , - , Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group , , - , Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist , , - , Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist , , - , ''Cracked Rear View'' , Favorite Pop/Rock Album , , - ,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, Hootie & the Blowfish , Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group ,

Grammy Award

The

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

is an award presented by

The Recording Academy The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy A ...

to recognize achievement in the mainly English-language music industry. , - , rowspan="2" , 1996 , Hootie & the Blowfish ,

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...

, , - , " Let Her Cry" , Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals ,

MTV Video Music Award

The

MTV Video Music Award The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video categor ...

is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. , - , rowspan="2" ,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, rowspan="2" , "Hold My Hand" ,

, , - , Viewer's Choice Award , , - , 1996 , "Only Wanna Be with You" , Best Group Video ,

Notes

References

External links

*
Hootie Golf site
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hootie And The Blowfish Alternative rock groups from South Carolina Grammy Award winners Musical groups established in 1986 Musical groups from South Carolina University of South Carolina alumni Atlantic Records artists Vanguard Records artists Musical groups disestablished in 2008 Musical groups reestablished in 2018 Musical quartets Jam bands American pop rock music groups Rock music groups from South Carolina Musical groups from Columbia, South Carolina 1986 establishments in South Carolina