Hootie & the Blowfish

by Stephen Thomas ErlewineHootie & the Blowfishs mainstream pop variation of blues-rock brought the band to the top of the charts in 1995. Formed at the University of South Carolina, the group features lead vocalist/guitarist Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim Soni Sonefeld; the name refers to two friends of the band, not Rucker and the group itself. Cracked Rear View, the groups first album, was released in the fall of 1994 and a single, Hold My Hand, worked its way into the Top Ten by the beginning of 1995. Its success propelled the album to number one, as well as launching a second hit, Let Her Cry, which was quickly followed by Only Wanna Be With You. Cracked Rear View had become a massive success by the fall of 1995, going platinum several times over. By the time the group released their second album, Fairweather Johnson, in the spring of 1996, the debut had sold 13 million copies in the U.S. alone. Fairweather Johnson initially didnt replicate that success. It entered the charts at number one and sold two million copies within its first four months of release, but it didnt produce any hit singles on the level of the debuts Hold My Hand or Let Her Cry. Musical Chairs followed in 1998. The album Scattered, Smothered, and Covered was issued two years later, featuring previously unreleased material, songs polled by the fans, and Hooties own tributes to R.E.M. and the Smiths. The band returned with new studio material on a 2003 self-titled effort for Atlantic, and followed in 2004 with an engaging Best of set. It included all their big hits as well as cover songs like 4-40s I Go Blind. Hootie & the Blowfish toured for most of the year in support of the hits collection, then returned to the studio. The result was Looking for Lucky, released in August 2005 through their own Sneaky Long imprint. Lucky featured contributions from numerous guests, including Matraca Berg and members of the Silos.