Hootie & The Blowfish

Formed when multi-instrumentalist Mark Bryan overheard dormmate Darius Rucker singing in the shower at South Carolina University, Hootie And The Blowfish went on to become one of the most successful US acts of the 1990s. Creating a smooth, pop friendly, soulful rock sound, debut Cracked Rear View (1994) was backed heavily by MTV and produced the US Top 10 hits Hold My Hand, Let Her Cry and Only Wanna Be With You. The album topped the Billboard charts, becoming the 15th best-seller of all time in the US with sales of over 16 million, and the band were named the Best New Artist Award at the 1996 Grammy Awards. Follow-up Fairweather Johnson (1996) also topped the charts and the band started their own label Breaking Records, but they struggled to recreate their huge success and began to drop off the radar after third album Musical Chairs (1998). They officially split in 2008 with Rucker pursuing a solo career influenced by country music.