Hootie & the Blowfish
Hootie & the Blowfish is an American pop-rock band, originally formed at the University of South Carolina by Darius Rucker, Dean Felber, Jim "Soni" Sonefeld and Mark Bryan.
Their debut album was Cracked Rear View (1994) and it was an instant success, ultimately selling over 16 million copies in the U.S. and becoming the best-selling album of 1994. The album was propelled by four hits, "Hold My Hand", "Let Her Cry," "Time," and "Only Wanna Be With You."
In 1995, Hootie & the Blowfish contributed the song "Hey Hey What Can I Do" to the Encomium tribute album to Led Zeppelin. The band's second album was Fairweather Johnson. Though sales began promisingly, it quickly ran out of steam, resulting in 3 million copies sold in the U.S. Hootie & the Blowfish has since released four more albums, Musical Chairs, Scattered, Smothered and Covered, Hootie & the Blowfish, and Looking for Lucky.
"Hootie" is the nickname of frontman Darius Rucker. The band's name comes from two of Rucker's friends, neither of whom was ever a band member. One, with a round face and glasses, was nicknamed Hootie because of his perceived owl-like appearance. The Blowfish also got his nickname from his facial appearance, in his case chubby cheeks.
The album Scattered, Smothered and Covered 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 covered with diced onions and melted cheese.
Discography
- 1991 - Hootie and the Blowfish (demo)
- 1992 - Time (out of print)
- 1993 - Kootchypop (out of print)
- 1994 - Cracked Rear View
- 1996 - Fairweather Johnson
- 1998 - Musical Chairs
- 2000 - Scattered, Smothered and Covered
- 2003 - Hootie & the Blowfish
- 2004 - The Best of Hootie & the Blowfish: 1993-2003
- 2005 - Looking for Lucky