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Hootie & the Blowfish

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Hootie & the Blowfish is an American rock band formed in Columbia, South Carolina , in 1986. The band's lineup for most of its existence has been the quartet of Darius Rucker , Mark Bryan , Dean Felber, and Jim Sonefeld. The band went on hiatus in 2008 until they announced plans for a full reunion tour in 2019 and released their first new studio album in fourteen years, Imperfect Circle .

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58-567: As of 2019, Hootie & the Blowfish have won two Grammy Awards, landed sixteen singles on various Billboard singles charts, and released six studio albums. The band's debut album, Cracked Rear View (1994), became one of the best-selling albums in the United States and was certified platinum 22 times. The band is known for its three Top 10 singles: " Hold My Hand " (1994), " Let Her Cry " (1994), and " Only Wanna Be with You " (1995). The band

116-412: 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,

174-464: A "tent show" section covering traveling shows and a subsection called "Freaks to order". Donaldson also published news articles opposing censorship, supporting productions exhibiting good taste and decrying yellow journalism ." As railroads became more developed, Billboard enabled a mail-forwarding system for traveling entertainers. The location of an entertainer was tracked in the paper's Routes Ahead column, and then Billboard would receive mail on

232-533: A background in the music industry. Gervino was appointed editor-in-chief in April 2014. An NPR item covered a leaked version of Billboard ' s annual survey, which it said had more gossip and focused on less professional topics than had prior surveys. For example, the magazine polled readers on a lawsuit that singer Kesha filed against her producer, alleging sexual abuse. Gervino was fired in May 2016. A note from Min to

290-604: A dedicated section called Amusement Machines in March 1932. Billboard began covering the motion-picture industry in 1907 but, facing strong competition from Variety , centered its focus on music. It created a radio-broadcasting station in the 1920s. The jukebox industry continued to grow through the Great Depression and was advertised heavily in Billboard , which led to even more editorial focus on music. The proliferation of

348-458: A former high school bandmate of Bryan's, 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. The band is routinely featured in articles and polls about badly-named bands. Rucker is often 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

406-456: 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. Their mainstream debut album was Cracked Rear View (1994). Released in July 1994, the album's popularity grew after its release, becoming

464-530: A high-tech firm for tracking music airtime. Private investors from Boston Ventures and BPI executives repurchased a two-thirds interest in Billboard Publications for $ 100 million, and more acquisitions followed. In 1993, it created a division known as Billboard Music Group for music-related publications. In 1994, Billboard Publications was sold to Dutch media conglomerate Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeverijen (VNU) for $ 220 million. VNU acquired

522-536: 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 ( ISBN   978-1-63576-767-4 ). In 2024, Rucker released Life's Too Short: A Memoir ( ISBN   978-0-06323-874-9 ). In 1996, Hootie &

580-509: A set of self-study cassette tapes and four television franchises. It also acquired Photo Weekly that year. Over time, subjects that Billboard covered outside of the music world formed the basis of separate publications: Funspot magazine was created in 1957 to cover amusement parks and Amusement Business was created in 1961 to cover outdoor entertainment. In January 1961, Billboard was renamed Billboard Music Week to emphasize its newly exclusive interest in music. Two years later, it

638-476: A trade publication for the Broadway theatre industry called Backstage . In 1987, Billboard was sold again to Affiliated Publications for $ 100 million. Billboard Publications Inc. became a subsidiary of Affiliated Publications called BPI Communications. As BPI Communications, it acquired The Hollywood Reporter , Adweek , Marketing Week and Mediaweek , and also purchased Broadcast Data Systems ,

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696-554: Is a member of the Canadian charity Artists Against Racism and has worked with them on awareness campaigns like TV PSAs. Contrasting with the sound of their grunge contemporaries, the band's music was described as "a mainstream pop variation of blues rock " with "equal parts of jam band grooves and MOR pop." The band's sound was also described as alternative rock , soft rock , roots rock , heartland rock , country rock , blues rock , and college rock . The American Music Award

754-678: Is also popular in Canada, having three number-one singles in that country. 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 dorm 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,

812-591: Is an annual American music awards show. The Grammy Award is an award presented by The Recording Academy to recognize achievement in the mainly English-language music industry. The MTV Video Music Award is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Billboard (magazine) Billboard (stylized in lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation . The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to

870-498: Is considered one of the most reputable sources of music industry news. The website includes the Billboard Charts, news separated by music genre, videos and a separate website. It also compiles lists, hosts a fashion website called Pret-a-Reporter and publishes eight different newsletters. The print magazine's regular sections include: Billboard is known for publishing several annual listicles on its website, in recognition of

928-520: The Billboard 200 , which tracks the top-selling albums, has become more popular as an indicator of commercial success. Billboard has also published books in collaboration with Watson-Guptill and a radio and television series called American Top 40, based on Billboard charts. A daily Billboard Bulletin was introduced in February 1997 and Billboard hosts about 20 industry events each year. Billboard

986-692: The Clio Awards in advertising and the National Research Group in 1997, as well as Editor & Publisher in 1999. In July 2000, it paid $ 650 million to the publisher Miller Freeman . BPI was combined with other entities in VNU in 2000 to form Bill Communications Inc. By the time CEO Gerald Hobbs retired in 2003, VNU had grown substantially larger, but had a great deal of debt from the acquisitions. An attempted $ 7 billion acquisition of IMS Health in 2005 prompted protests from shareholders that halted

1044-524: The music industry . Its music charts include the Hot 100 , the 200 , and the Global 200 , tracking the most popular albums and songs in various music genres. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm and operates several television shows. Billboard was founded in 1894 by William Donaldson and James Hennegan as a trade publication for bill posters. Donaldson later acquired Hennegan's interest in 1900 for $ 500. In

1102-532: The "bible" of the recording industry. Billboard struggled after its founder William Donaldson died in 1925, and within three years, was once again heading towards bankruptcy . Donaldson's son-in-law Roger Littleford took command in 1928 and "nursed the publication back to health." His sons Bill and Roger became co-publishers in 1946 and inherited the magazine in the late 1970s after Littleford's death. They sold it to private investors in 1985 for an estimated $ 40 million. The investors cut costs and acquired

1160-529: 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 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

1218-533: The Blowfish have become known for their charity work. The entire band and crew traveled to New Orleans for five days of building houses in Musicians' Village on October 16–20, 2006. 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

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1276-566: 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

1334-569: 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

1392-498: 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. Tim Sommer ,

1450-666: The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group, a unit of the holding company Eldridge Industries . Timothy White was appointed editor-in-chief in 1991, a position that he held until his unexpected death in 2002. White wrote a weekly column promoting music with "artistic merit" while criticizing music with violent or misogynistic themes, and also reworked the publication's music charts. Rather than relying on data from music retailers, new charts used data from store checkout scanners obtained by Nielsen SoundScan . White also wrote in-depth profiles on musicians, but

1508-579: 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 USS  Enterprise  (CVN-65) , 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 &

1566-617: 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

1624-413: The articles are written by staff writers, while some are written by industry experts. It covers news, gossip, opinion, and music reviews, but its "most enduring and influential creation" is the Billboard charts . The charts track music sales, radio airtime and other data about the most popular songs and albums. The Billboard Hot 100 chart of the top-selling songs was introduced in 1958. Since then,

1682-632: 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 ,

1740-678: 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. 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

1798-422: The band released Looking for Lucky . 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 &

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1856-442: 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. Hootie &

1914-605: The band's most popular songs. The song was recorded by American band Hootie & the Blowfish and originally released as a b-side on the band's " Hold My Hand " single. The cover was later released on the soundtrack of the TV series Friends . The cover became a radio hit in 1996, peaking at No. 2 on the Adult Top 40 chart and at No. 22 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. The Hootie version also charted on Canada's RPM Singles Chart , peaking at No. 13. The song

1972-588: The best-selling album of 1995, and was one of the fastest-selling debut albums of all time. The album was certified platinum in the United States in January 1995, and incrementally rose to 12× platinum by January 1996, and 16× platinum by March 1999. In May 2019, the certification was updated from 16× platinum to 21× platinum. The album featured four hits, " Hold My Hand " (U.S. No. 10), " Let Her Cry " (U.S. No. 9), " Only Wanna Be with You " (U.S. No. 6), and " Time " (U.S. No. 14). The album's last single, " Drowning ",

2030-462: 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

2088-476: The deal; it eventually agreed to an $ 11 billion takeover bid from investors in 2006. VNU changed its name to Nielsen in 2007, the namesake of a company that it had acquired for $ 2.5 billion in 1999. New CEO Robert Krakoff divested some of the previously owned publications, restructured the organization and planned some acquisitions before dying suddenly in 2007. He was subsequently replaced by Greg Farrar. Nielsen owned Billboard until 2009, when it

2146-520: The early years of the 20th century, it covered the entertainment industry, such as circuses, fairs and burlesque shows, and also created a mail service for travelling entertainers. Billboard began focusing more on the music industry as the jukebox , phonograph and radio became commonplace. Many topics that it covered became the subjects of new magazines, including Amusement Business in 1961 to cover outdoor entertainment, so that Billboard could focus on music. After Donaldson died in 1925, Billboard

2204-521: The editorial staff indicated that senior vice president of digital content Mike Bruno would head the editorial department. On June 15, 2016, BillboardPH , the first Billboard chart company in Southeast Asia, mainly in the Philippines, was announced. On September 12, 2016, Billboard expanded into China by launching Billboard China in partnership with Vision Music Ltd. On September 23, 2020, it

2262-516: The first female and youngest-ever executive editor at Billboard and led its first major redesign since the 1960s, designed by Daniel Stark and Stark Design. During Conniff's tenure, Billboard 's newsstand sales jumped 10%, ad pages climbed 22% and conference registrations rose 76%. In 2005, Billboard expanded its editorial outside the music industry into other areas of digital and mobile entertainment. In 2006, after leading Billboard's radio publication, former ABC News and CNN journalist Scott McKenzie

2320-410: The hit single "Old Man and Me" (U.S. No. 13), and sold four million copies in the United States. 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

2378-399: The magazine on outdoor entertainment such as fairs, carnivals, circuses, vaudeville , and burlesque shows. A section devoted to circuses was introduced in 1900, followed by more prominent coverage of outdoor events in 1901. Billboard also covered topics including regulation, professionalism, economics and new shows. It had a "stage gossip" column covering the private lives of entertainers,

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2436-558: The most influential executives, artists and companies in the music industry, such as the following: Since 1990 Billboard established the Billboard Music Awards , an awards ceremony honors top album, artist and single in a number of different music genres which achieved the highest results during the year form sales, streaming, radio airplay, touring, and social engagement. The data are taken from Billboard and its data partners, including MRC Data and Next Big Sound . Through

2494-813: The phonograph and radio also contributed to its growing music emphasis. Billboard published the first music hit parade on January 4, 1936 and introduced a Record Buying Guide in January 1939. In 1940, it introduced Chart Line, which tracked the best-selling records, and was followed by a chart for jukebox records in 1944 called Music Box Machine. By the 1940s, Billboard was more of a music-industry specialist publication. The number of charts that it published grew after World War II , as new music interests and genres became popular. It had eight charts by 1987, covering different genres and formats, and 28 charts by 1994. By 1943, Billboard had about 100 employees. The magazine's offices moved to Brighton, Ohio in 1946, then to New York City in 1948. A five-column tabloid format

2552-420: The service was discontinued, Billboard was still processing 1,500 letters per week. In 1920, Donaldson controversially hired black journalist James Albert Jackson to write a weekly column devoted to black performers. According to The Business of Culture: Strategic Perspectives on Entertainment and Media , the column identified discrimination against black performers and helped validate their careers. Jackson

2610-407: The star's behalf and publish a notice in its Letter-Box column that it had mail for him or her. This service was first introduced in 1904 and became one of Billboard ' s largest sources of profit and celebrity connections. By 1914, 42,000 people were using the service. It was also used as the official address of traveling entertainers for draft letters during World War I . In the 1960s, when

2668-494: The time, billboards, posters, and paper advertisements placed in public spaces were the primary means of advertising. Donaldson handled editorial and advertising, while Hennegan, who owned Hennegan Printing Co., managed magazine production. The first issues were just eight pages long. The paper had columns such as The Bill Room Gossip and The Indefatigable and Tireless Industry of the Bill Poster. A department for agricultural fairs

2726-422: The years, Billboard has established several other awards to honor different music genres, live performances, and artists. Since that Billboard established severals awards ceremonies and honors: I Go Blind " I Go Blind " is a song by Canadian alternative rock group 54-40 . The song was released in Canada as the second single from the band's 1986 self-titled album, 54-40 . It has since become one of

2784-504: Was adopted in November 1950 and coated paper was first used in Billboard ' s print issues in January 1963, allowing for photojournalism. Billboard Publications Inc. acquired a monthly trade magazine for candy and cigarette machine vendors called Vend , and in the 1950s it acquired an advertising trade publication called Tide . By 1969, Billboard Publications Inc. owned 11 trade and consumer publications, Watson-Guptill Publications,

2842-565: Was announced that Penske Media Corporation would assume operations of the MRC Media & Info publications under a joint venture with MRC known as PMRC. The joint venture includes the management of Billboard . On January 13, 2024, Billboard shared the intent to further expand in Asia by announcing the launch of Billboard Korea . Billboard publishes a news website and weekly trade magazine that covers music, video and home entertainment. Most of

2900-587: Was established in 1896. The Billboard Advertising publication was renamed The Billboard in 1897. After a brief departure over editorial differences, Donaldson purchased Hennegan's interest in the business in 1900 for $ 500 (equal to $ 15,100 today) to save it from bankruptcy. On May 5, Donaldson changed the publication from a monthly to a weekly paper with a greater emphasis on breaking news. He improved editorial quality and opened new offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, London, and Paris, and also refocused

2958-469: Was inherited by his and Hennegan's children, who retained ownership until selling it to private investors in 1985. The magazine has since been owned by various parties. The first issue of Billboard was published in Cincinnati , Ohio by William Donaldson and James Hennegan on November 1, 1894. Initially it covered the advertising and bill-posting industry and was known as Billboard Advertising . At

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3016-613: Was named editorial director across all Billboard properties. Conniff launched the Billboard Women in Music event in 2007. Bill Werde was named editorial director in 2008, and was followed by Janice Min in January 2014, also responsible for editorial content at The Hollywood Reporter . The magazine became more of a general-interest music-news source rather than solely an industry trade, covering more celebrity and fashion news. Min hired Tony Gervino as editor although he did not have

3074-505: 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". In 1995, Hootie &

3132-556: Was one of eight publications sold to e5 Global Media Holdings. e5 was formed by investment firms Pluribus Capital Management and Guggenheim Partners for the purpose of the acquisition. The following year, the new parent company was renamed Prometheus Global Media . Three years later, Guggenheim Partners acquired Pluribus' share of Prometheus and became the sole owner of Billboard . In December 2015, Guggenheim Digital Media spun out several media brands, including Billboard , to its own executive Todd Boehly . The assets operate under

3190-419: Was renamed to simply Billboard . According to The New Business Journalism , by 1984, Billboard Publications was a "prosperous" conglomerate of trade magazines, and Billboard had become the "undisputed leader" in music-industry news. In the early 1990s, Billboard introduced Billboard Airplay Monitors , a publication for disc jockeys and music programmers. By the end of the 1990s, Billboard dubbed itself

3248-469: Was replaced by Keith Girard, who was subsequently fired in May 2004. Girard and a female employee filed a $ 29 million lawsuit alleging that Billboard fired them unfairly with an intent to damage their reputations and that they experienced sexual harassment, a hostile work environment and a financially motivated lack of editorial integrity. Email evidence suggested that human resources were given special instructions to watch minority employees. The case

3306-411: Was settled out of court in 2006 for an undisclosed sum. In the 2000s, economic decline in the music industry dramatically reduced readership and advertising from Billboard ' s traditional audience. Circulation declined from 40,000 in circulation in the 1990s to less than 17,000 by 2014. The publication's staff and ownership were also undergoing frequent changes. In 2004, Tamara Conniff became

3364-498: Was the first black critic at a national magazine with a predominantly white audience. According to his grandson, Donaldson also established a policy against identifying performers by their race. Donaldson died in 1925. Billboard ' s editorial content changed focus as technology in recording and playback developed, covering "marvels of modern technology" such as the phonograph and wireless radios. The magazine began covering coin-operated entertainment machines in 1899 and created

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