When we think of the defining artists of the 1990s, our minds tend to alight on the bands of the grunge era: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, or perhaps the Britpop groups: Oasis, Blur et al. But there’s one whose name never seems to come up in those TV retrospectives of the decade – Hootie & the Blowfish.
The South Carolina four-piece could never have been cool. Not with that ridiculous name. But it’s hard to remember now just how big they were. Their 1994 debut album Cracked Rear View sold a staggering 22 million copies, making it the seventh-biggest seller of the decade: more than Nevermind, Vs, and both of the albums Michael Jackson released during the 90s. Even today, it’s the nineteenth biggest-selling album of all time in the US. If you exclude compilations, it’s tenth.
