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Hootie & the Blowfish are an American rock band, originally formed at the University of South Carolina by Darius Rucker, Dean Felber, Jim "Soni" Sonefeld and Mark Bryan.

Hootie & the Blowfish formed in 1985. The quartet met when they were freshmen at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Mark Bryan heard Darius Rucker singing in the showers of the dorm they shared and was impressed by his vocal ability. Bryan and Rucker began playing cover tunes as The Wolf Brothers; eventually Bryan and Rucker hooked up with Felber, a former high school bandmate of Bryan's, and Jim "Soni" Sonefeld as Hootie & The Blowfish.

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, which was named after a reference to female genitalia in a stand-up comedy act by What's Happening co-star Shirley Hemphill. Their mainstream debut album was Cracked Rear View (1994). It was an instant success, ultimately going platinum 16 times in the U.S. and becoming the best-selling album of 1995. The album was propelled by four hits, "Hold My Hand", "Let Her Cry", "Only Wanna Be With You", and "Time". 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 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.

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. Though sales began promisingly, the album quickly ran out of steam, having 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 covered with diced onions and 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", originally released on the soundtrack to the TV series Friends in 1995, did not appear on Cracked Rear View or Fairweather Johnson, but nevertheless became a surprise hit at radio in 1997 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.

The band currently has an extensive touring schedule, including an annual New Year's Eve show at the Silverton Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The band's name comes from two of frontman Darius Rucker's college choir 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. Rucker is often mistakenly referred to as Hootie.

• Hootie & The Blowfish brought their entire band and crew down to New Orleans for five days of building houses in Musicians' Village, on October 16-20, 2006.


• Hootie & the Blowfish's members are avid golfers, and have sponsored the Monday After the Masters charity golf tournament since 1995.


• The minor league baseball team in Columbia, South Carolina was named the Blowfish in tribute to the band.


• Hootie and 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 both 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.

• Darius Rucker - lead vocals, guitar, mandolin, dobro, harmonica


• Mark Bryan - guitar, mandolin, vocals, banjo, lap steel, piano


• Dean Felber - bass, vocals, guitar, piano


• Jim Sonefeld - drums, percussion, bass, guitar, piano, vocals

• Peter Holsapple - keyboards, mandolin, guitar, vocals, lap steel


• Gary Greene - percussion, drums, vocals, guitar, piano

• The characters on Friends were fans of Hootie & the Blowfish; in Season 2 Episode 5 (The One With Five Steaks and an Eggplant) Ross, Chandler and Monica attended one of their concerts, Monica received a hickey from "a blowfish."


• On an episode of Sesame Street, Darius Rucker helped Elmo to cross the street, while singing a special version of "Hold My Hand" in which the lyrics were changed to fit the situation of parents helping their kids to cross the street.


• The band was referenced on The Simpsons, when Bart was to act as a mole for Chief Wiggum. Wiggum recorded the audio from Bart's wire over a Hootie and the Blowfish cassette because, as he explained, "It's cheaper than blank tape."


• Season 3, episode 17 of NYPD Blue was named Hollie and the Blowfish in reference to guest character Ferdinand Hollie (Giancarlo Esposito), as a play on words to the band.


• Hootie & the Blowfish are mentioned on the US sitcom Less Than Perfect on Kipps ultimate Mate List.


• In the movie Jerry Maguire, Cuba Gooding, Jr., playing a professional football player, is stopped by two young fans who want his autograph. Much to his consternation, he finds that they have mistaken him for Darius Rucker, and ask him, "Are you Hootie??".


• Thrash Metal act Soulfly mentioned the band's name in the song "No" off their 1998 self titled debut album. The song is a list of various things despised by band leader Max Cavalera.


• Infamous grindcore band Anal Cunt has a song "praising" Hootie and the Blowfish (most likely sarcastically, as it also contains several racist insults) on their 1997 album I Like It When You Die.


• In the episode called "Talkin' Trash" of The Fairly OddParents, Wanda's father, Big Daddy, is said to be responsible for the disappearances of Amelia Earhart and Hootie and the Blowfish. There is a running gag in the episode where when separate characters meet Big Daddy, they say, "Say 'Hi' to Hootie for me."


• In Notorious B.I.G.'s "Mo Money Mo Problems", rapper Mase uses the lyrics "blow like Hootie."


• Bob Rivers parodied their song "Only Wanna Be With You", becoming "Three Inch Tool".


• In the episode "Jr. Gets His License" from the sitcom My Wife and Kids, Michael refers to Claire as the blowfish from Hootie and the Blowfish since her cheeks were swallon.