History

Early years

Hootie & the Blowfish formed in 1986. The quartet met when they were freshmen at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Bryan heard Rucker singing in the showers of the dorm they shared and was impressed by his vocal ability. They began playing cover tunes as The Wolf Brothers; eventually they collaborated with Felber, a former high school bandmate of Bryan's, and Jim "Soni" Sonefeld as Hootie & the Blowfish. The name is a conjunction of the nicknames of two of their college friends. Brantley Smith was the original drummer for the band. He left the group to pursue music ministry, but he has made scattered guest appearances with the band (he played cello on their MTV Unplugged performance in 1996, and played drums at Gruene Hall in Gruene, Texas, on June 27, 2008).

The group independently released two cassette demo EPs in 1991 and 1992. In 1993, they pressed 50,000 copies of a self-released EP, Kootchypop.

1994-95: Cracked Rear View and mainstream success

Their mainstream debut album was Cracked Rear View (1994). It was an instant success, went platinum 16 times in the U.S., became the best-selling album of 1995, and was one of the fast-selling debut albums of all time. 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" (U.S. No. 14). The album's last single, "Drowning", was not as successful as its predecessors, peaking only on the Mainstream Rock chart. In 1995, Hootie & the Blowfish and Bob Dylan 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' Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino appeared in the band's video for the song "Only Wanna Be with You", along with several other athletes.

1996-97: Fairweather Johnson and promotional singles

The band won the "Best New Artist" award at the 1996 Grammy Awards. Hootie & the Blowfish appeared on MTV Unplugged on the eve of the release of their second album, 1996's Fairweather Johnson. It contained the hit single "Old Man and Me" (U.S. No. 13), and sold four million copies in the U.S. Hootie & the Blowfish has since released three more studio albums: Musical Chairs, Hootie & the Blowfish, and Looking for Lucky. They also released a B-sides and rarities compilation in 2000 entitled Scattered, Smothered and Covered. 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 scattered on the grill, smothered with diced onions and covered with melted cheese.

In 1995, Hootie & the Blowfish contributed the song "Hey Hey What Can I Do" to the Encomium tribute album to Led Zeppelin. Their cover of Canadian group 54-40's "I Go Blind", released on the soundtrack to the TV 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 collection Scattered, Smothered and Covered.

1998-2008: Later years

In 1998, they performed on Frank Wildhorn's concept album of the musical The Civil War. The group covered the 1968 Orpheus hit "Can't Find the Time" in 2001 for the soundtrack of the Jim Carrey movie, Me, Myself and Irene. Orpheus creator and the song's writer Bruce Arnold traded verses with Darius on several occasions, when the band played live on the West Coast. The band had an extensive touring schedule, including an annual New Year's Eve show at Silverton Las Vegas (formerly known as Boomtown Las Vegas) in Enterprise, Nevada. In 2008, the band started releasing their concerts as downloads through trueAnthem. In 2009, Hootie & the Blowfish performed live in a ballet which chronicled their rise and success in the 1990s.

2008-present: Hiatus and solo work

In 2008, Rucker announced in an AOL Sessions interview that Hootie & the Blowfish would be going on hiatus so Rucker could pursue his solo career as a country music performer. Although the band will no longer be recording or touring, Rucker confirmed that they will still perform their scheduled charity concerts, stating, "We have four charity gigs every year and we will still do them, but we will not do a record or tour." Rucker also said that the split will last "for five or six years, or until I record three or four country albums". He later amended his statement, saying, "To be honest with you, we're not even split up right now, and we're not really thinking about splitting up."

Rucker has recorded a solo album, Learn to Live, for Capitol Records. It includes the singles "Don't Think I Don't Think About It", "It Won't Be Like This for Long", "Alright", all three of which have reached #1 on the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart, and "History in the Making", which peaked at #3 on the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart. Rucker's second solo album Charleston, SC 1966 was released October 2010. A third solo album, True Believers, was released May 2013, followed by 2014's Christmas-themed Home for the Holidays, and a fourth solo album, Southern Style, in March 2015.

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.

Record label

Hootie & the Blowfish started their own record label, Breaking Records, in 1996 as a subsidiary of Atlantic. They had planned to focus on signing local Carolina acts. Edwin McCain and Cravin' Melon were associated with the label at one point, but did not release any material on it. The Meat Puppets, Jump, Little Children, 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 USS Enterprise (CVN-65), which was docked in Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates. The band then played an extended concert for crew members of the aircraft carrier.

Each year 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 Columbia, South Carolina. 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. Hootie & the Blowfish reunited to do a show at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey on 18 October 2008.

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 grooves and MOR pop." The band's sound was also described as heartland rock, roots rock and jangle pop.

Band members

Current line-up

• Darius Rucker - lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1986-2008)
• Mark Bryan - lead guitar, backing vocals, piano (1986-2008)
• Dean Felber - bass guitar, backing vocals, piano (1986-2008)
• Jim Sonefeld - drums, percussion, backing vocals, rhythm guitar (1989-2008)

Touring members

• Gary Greene - percussion, drums, rhythm guitar, piano, banjo (1995-2000; 2001-2008)
• Peter Holsapple - keyboards, mandolin, guitar, lap steel guitar, backing vocals (1995-1998; 2003-2008)
• Philip "Fish" Fisher - percussion, drums (2000-2001)

Former members

• John Nau - keyboards, mandolin, rhythm guitar, harmonica (1994-1998) (studio & occasional fill-in only) (1998-2003) (studio artist & touring member)
• Brantley Smith - drums (1986-1989)

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album details	Peak chart positions										Certifications
		US	US Indie	AUS	CAN	GER	NL	NZ	SWE	SWI	UK
1994	Cracked Rear View Release date: July 5, 1994 Label: Atlantic Records	1	—	7	1	45	—	1	—	—	12	US: Diamond (16× Platinum) UK: Gold CAN: Diamond
1996	Fairweather Johnson Release date: April 23, 1996 Label: Atlantic Records	1	—	12	6	41	37	6	36	37	9	US: 3× Platinum UK: Silver
1998	Musical Chairs Release date: September 15, 1998 Label: Atlantic Records	4	—	—	27	72	—	20	—	—	15	US: Platinum
2003	Hootie & the Blowfish Release date: March 4, 2003 Label: Atlantic Records	46	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	161
2005	Looking for Lucky Release date: August 9, 2005 Label: Vanguard Records	47	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Compilation albums

Year	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US	US Indie
2000	Scattered, Smothered and Covered Release date: October 24, 2000 Label: Atlantic Records	71	—
2004	The Best of Hootie & the Blowfish: 1993-2003 Release date: March 2, 2004 Label: Atlantic/Rhino Records	62	—
2006	Live in Charleston Release date: August 8, 2006 Label: Vanguard Records	—	47
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions									Album
		US	US Main	US AC	US Adult	AUS	CAN	GER	NZ	UK
1994	"Hold My Hand"	10	4	6	—	70	36	—	37	50	Cracked Rear View
	"Let Her Cry"	9	9	7	—	4	2	78	19	75
1995	"Only Wanna Be with You"	6	2	3	3	40	1	65	17	87
	"Time"	14	26	4	1	—	1	—	35	—
	"Drowning"	—	21	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1996	"Old Man & Me (When I Get To Heaven)"	13	6	18	4	60	1	75	41	57	Fairweather Johnson
	"Tucker's Town"	38	29	24	12	—	2	—	—	79
	"Sad Caper"	—	—	—	26	—	—	—	—	—
1998	"I Will Wait"	—	—	28	3	—	7	—	—	57	Musical Chairs
1999	"Only Lonely"	—	—	29	25	—	—	—	—	169
2003	"Innocence"	—	—	25	24	—	—	—	—	—	Hootie & the Blowfish
	"Goodbye Girl"	—	—	24	—	—	—	—	—	—	The Best of Hootie & the Blowfish
2005	"One Love"	—	—	5	20	—	—	—	—	—	Looking for Lucky
2006	"Get Out of My Mind"	—	—	17	17	—	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Other singles

Promotional singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions				Album
		US Main	US AC	US Adult	CAN
1995	"I Go Blind"	13	22	3	13	Friends Original TV Soundtrack
	"Hey Hey What Can I Do"	15	—	—	—	Encomium: a Tribute to Led Zeppelin
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Music videos

Year	Video	Director
1994	"Hold My Hand"	Adolfo Doring
	"Let Her Cry"
	"Only Wanna Be With You"	Frank Sacramento
	"Time"
1996	"Old Man and Me (When I Get to Heaven)"	Dan Winters
	"Tucker's Town"	Greg Masuak
	"Sad Caper"	Steven Hanft
	"Gravity of the Situation"	Milton Lage
	"Be the One"
1998	"I Will Wait"	Ulf
	"Only Lonely"	Nigel Dick
2005	"One Love"	Roman White

[ Source: Wikipedia ]