Early years Darius Rucker and
Mark Bryan met in
Columbia, South Carolina, in the mid-1980s when they were both freshmen at the
University of South Carolina. Bryan, a guitar player, heard Rucker singing in the showers of the dormitory 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, 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 - one who wore huge, round glasses that made him look like an owl, the other with big, puffy cheeks that made him look like a blowfish. The band is routinely featured in articles and polls about badly-named bands. Rucker is often mistakenly labeled 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 performance in 1996 and played drums at Gruene Hall in
Gruene, Texas, on June 27, 2008). Smith was replaced full time in 1989 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. 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. 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 along with several other athletes in the band's
video 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 tribute album to
Led Zeppelin. 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 it 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, 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 (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's concept album of the musical
The Civil War. Hootie & the Blowfish released their third studio album,
Musical Chairs, 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 of the
Jim Carrey movie
Me, Myself & Irene (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 (formerly known as Boomtown Las Vegas) in
Enterprise, Nevada. The band released a
B-sides and rarities
compilation 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—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 performer. Rucker confirmed the band would still perform their scheduled charity concerts but added they would not record or tour. Rucker later clarified the band was not splitting up. In 2009, Hootie & the Blowfish performed live in a ballet that 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 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
Cracked Rear View. The tour began on May 30, 2019, in
Virginia Beach and concluded on September 13 in their hometown of
Columbia, South Carolina. They also signed a new record deal with
UMG Nashville." The band's sixth studio album,
Imperfect Circle, was released on November 1, 2019. In April 2020, the band released a
cover version of R.E.M.'s "
Losing My Religion". In 2022, Sonefeld released a memoir entitled
Swimming with a Blowfish: Hootie, Healing, and the Ride of a Lifetime (). In 2024, Rucker released ''Life's Too Short: A Memoir'' (). In 2024, the band continued touring with the 43-city Summer Camp With Trucks Tour, featuring
Collective Soul and
Edwin McCain.
Record label In 1996, Hootie & the Blowfish started their own record label, Breaking Records, 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, Virginwool, Treadmill Trackstar, and Treehouse released one album each on Breaking Records. The label folded in 2000.
Charity work Tim Sommer, the band's A&R representative at Atlantic Records, said Hootie & The Blowfish donated all the proceeds from a Seattle concert in the 1990s to a rape crisis group that had been set up in memory of
Mia Zapata, the lead singer of the punk band
The Gits, who had been murdered in 1993. Sommer had originally intended to sign The Gits to Atlantic before Zapata's death and prior to him signing Hootie & The Blowfish. 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 a cappella solo of
the US National Anthem during the lowering of colors on board , which was docked in
Jebel Ali, 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
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. On October 18, 2008, Hootie & the Blowfish reunited to do a show at
Incirlik Air Base 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 ==