<Ul> <Li> Darius Rucker </Li> <Li> Mark Bryan </Li> <Li> Dean Felber </Li> <Li> Jim Sonefeld </Li> <Li> Brantley Smith </Li> <Li> John Nau </Li> </Ul> <P> Hootie & the Blowfish is an American alternative rock band that was formed in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1986 by Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim Sonefeld . As of July 2010, the band had charted 16 singles on various Billboard singles charts and recorded five studio albums . Their 1994 debut album, Cracked Rear View, is the 16th - best - selling album of all time in the US, and was certified platinum 16 times . They have sold over 21 million albums in the United States . The group was also popular in Canada, having three number - one singles in the country . </P> <P> Hootie & the Blowfish formed in 1986 . The quartet met when they were freshmen at the University of South Carolina in Columbia . Bryan heard Rucker singing in the showers of the dorm they shared and was impressed by his vocal ability . They began playing cover tunes as The Wolf Brothers; eventually they collaborated with Felber, a former high school bandmate of Bryan's, and Jim "Soni" Sonefeld as Hootie & the Blowfish . The name is a conjunction of the nicknames of two of their college friends . Brantley Smith was the original drummer for the band . He left the group to pursue music ministry, but he has made scattered guest appearances with 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). </P> <P> 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, 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 . </P>

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