Hootie & the Blowfish

From Free net encyclopedia

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 and 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 Want To Be With You."

Image:H and Bfish.jpg

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 three 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.

While Rucker's nickname is Hootie, the band's name comes from two of frontman Darius 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.

[edit]