The Rise of Hootie & the Blowfish: Heartland Rock in a Grunge Era
In the mid-’80s, Darius Rucker met Mark Bryan at university, and the pair formed a duo called Wolf Brothers, mainly playing covers of their favourite band, R.E.M.
After recruiting bassist Dean Felber and drummer Brantley Smith, they changed their name to Hootie & the Blowfish.
To me, the band’s style is best described as Heartland Rock—a polished, radio-friendly pop rock sound with Americana and country influences.
Their debut album arrived in 1994, nearly a decade after the formation of Wolf Brothers.
In hindsight, they may seem like a safe bet for a major label like Atlantic, but it’s worth remembering that 1994 was peak Grunge—making Hootie & the Blowfish, funnily enough, something of an anti-establishment act.
The album Cracked Rear View fits comfortably alongside other contemporary bands such as the Goo Goo Dolls, the Wallflowers, and of course, their beloved R.E.M.
Selling over 10 million copies, the band became an overnight success. Singles Hold My Hand, Let Her Cry, Only Wanna Be With You, and Time all charted well. Time also featured a cover of Bill Withers’s Use Me as its B-side.
From Platinum to Patchy: Hootie’s Struggle to Stay on Top
The follow-up, Fairweather Johnson (1996), initially sold well—clearly riding the wave of the debut’s success—but sales quickly dropped off. Still, it moved over two million copies.
Their third album, Musical Chairs (1998), only produced one single, I Will Wait. By this point, the band’s popularity was clearly fading. Their next release, Scattered, Smothered and Covered (2000), was a collection of mostly obscure covers by artists such as Tom Waits, The Smiths, R.E.M., Roy Orbison, Led Zeppelin, and Bill Withers (Use Me was included again).
Perhaps the standout is their version of the Tom Waits track I Hope That I Don’t Fall in Love with You.
After the covers album, Hootie—well, Darius—ventured out with an R&B solo album. Initially titled The Return of Mongo Slade, it was never released by Atlantic. Instead, it was picked up by an indie label and renamed Back to Then. The album featured Snoop Dogg and production from the team behind Jill Scott.
One tune, This Is My World, appeared in the film Shallow Hal. Honestly, it’s not great.
Following the disappointing R&B effort, Darius returned to Hootie & the Blowfish to record their self-titled fourth album. It failed to make an impact, and Darius’s career appeared to be on shaky ground.
From Hootie to Honky-Tonk: Darius Rucker Finds His Voice in Country
After a few years of contemplation, Darius re-emerged—this time as a (Black) country artist. One can only imagine the haters wringing their hands.
They didn’t stay smug for long. Learn to Live (2008) was a massive success, reaching #1 on the country charts and #5 on the Billboard 200. Singles Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It, It Won’t Be Like This for Long, and Alright all hit the top spot as well.
The follow-up, Charleston, SC 1966, also topped the charts, with singles Come Back Song and This doing the same.
On Darius’s third country album, True Believers, we find his cover of the Bob Dylan co-write Wagon Wheel—a tune steeped in mystery. Darius’s version sold 10 million copies—the same as Hootie & the Blowfish’s now-legendary debut!
So, what do you do after that much success? Release a Christmas album, of course. Darius dropped Home for the Holidays in 2014 and presumably cried all the way to the bank.
In 2015, he was back with Southern Style, which once again hit #1, and spawned the successful single Homegrown Honey.
When Was the Last Time followed in 2017, and—you guessed it—it hit #1 too. Singles If I Told You and For the First Time both topped the charts.
This run of success led Darius to reunite with Hootie & the Blowfish for a sixth studio album, Imperfect Circle (2019). With guest writers including Ed Sheeran and Chris Stapleton, the record didn’t quite hit the mark. Released just before the world shut down in 2020, touring was a non-starter.
The last thing we heard from Hootie was a fitting cover of their favourite band’s signature tune, Losing My Religion.
Darius’s latest release, Carolyn’s Boy (2023), features the single Beers and Sunshine, which sounds like I’m Yours and Chicken Fried met in a bar and had a love child.
Darius Rucker Tunes | Related Pages
Losing My Religion | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play Losing My Religion by R.E.M. using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| Am | Am | Em | Em |
Oh, life is bigger, it’s bigger than you and you are not me…
Want to master this song? Check out the full TAB lesson here: Losing My Religion (R.E.M.) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Wagon Wheel | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play Wagon Wheel by Darius Rucker using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| G | (Dsus2) D | Em | (Csus2) C Csus2 |
So, rock me mama like a wagon wheel, rock me mama any way you feel…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: Wagon Wheel (Darius Rucker) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Darius Rucker on the web
