When one thinks back on the music of the 1990s, there were two distinct voices. One is the grunge movement that gave us bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam. The other is the sound of Hootie & The Blowfish. One could not escape hearing the sounds of both movements. Our Top 10 Hootie & The Blowfish Songs list looks at the band whose debut album in 1994 is one of the top-selling albums of all time. Their debut album, Cracked Rear View, is the 19th biggest-selling rock record in United States history. That’s a pretty significant fact. In 1995, it became the biggest-selling album of the year.
Hootie & The Blowfish captured an incredibly wide audience with their magnificent sound of rock music that was extremely radio-friendly. The band had a rock roots sound with elements of R&B, country, and southern all mixed in. It’s why they captured such a large audience. In the end, however, it always comes down to songs, and their first album was filled with great ones.
Hootie & The Blowfish was a hard-working band. They did not let the phenomenal success of their first album go their heads and take it easy. While they never achieved the massive success they did with their first album again, they still did quite well with their follow-up albums.
The band’s follow-up album to Cracked Rear View is entitled Fairweather Johnson. The album was released in 1996. The album reached all the way to number one on the Billboard Top 200 Album Charts. It also went 3x Platinum sales. The band’s third album, Musical Chairs, was released in 1998. While it didn’t make it to number one, it still celebrated top 10 status on the Billboard Album charts, peaking as high as number four.
While both Fairweather Johnson and Musical Chairs did well on the album charts, both album’s singles did not fare well. Only one song from Fairweather Johnson reached the Billboard Top 20, and none of the singles from Musical Chairs even reached the Billboard Top 100 singles charts. Still, the band continued to tour, sell out shows and release albums.
In 2003, Hootie & The Blowfish fulfilled their recording contract with Atlantic Records and released their final album for the label entitled Hootie & The Blowfish. The band would release one final album in the 2000s entitled Looking for Lucky. The album sold very poorly, and the band went on a hiatus. Lead singer Darius Rucker would continue to explore a solo recording career as a country music singer. Rucker released six albums independently and did very well in the country music genre.
In 2018, Hootie & The Blowfish reunited for a forty-four-night concert tour. During the tour, they announced a new album. In 2019, the band released their first new album, Imperfect Circle, in fourteen years. The band’s comeback was complete, and all was going well until the coronavirus canceled all concerts worldwide.
Our Top 10 Hootie & The Blowfish songs list takes a look at the catalog of this great American Band. We hope you enjoy this look back into the past and these great Hootie & The Blowfish songs, some of which are now twenty-five years old.
# 10 – Rollin’
We open up our Top 10 Hootie & The Blowfish songs list with a brand new Hootie and the Blowfish song. In 2019, Hootie & The Blowfish released their first new album, Imperfect Circle, in fourteen years. The album’s first single, “Rollin’,” captures that old feel-good driving down-the-road style song that made us fall in love with Hootie and the Blowfish in the first place,
# 9 – Hey Hey What Can I Do
Yes, we know this is a Led Zeppelin song. It was a Zep song released as the B-Side to the “Immigrant Song.” However, we like the way Hootie & The Blowfish covered this song. We only wish Darius would have let loose just a little bit more. Still, the band sounded great, and the song’s original groove was perfect for this band. The song was released on the band’s excellent cover album, Scattered, Smothered and Covered. The album was released in 2000.
# 8 – Hold On
Another great song from the band’s 2019 album. This one features a killer chorus reminiscent of their big-time hits from the band’s first album. This is a great one. It should have been a big hit. Maybe it will be one day. The song opens with a great guitar riff that is met by bass and drums, setting the stage for that golden voice of Darius Ricketr.
# 7 – I Go Blind
Continuing with our Top 10 Hootie & The Blowfish songs list, we turn to a great B side entitled “I Go Blind.” The song was initially released in 1986 as the flip side to the single “Hold My Hand.” The song would be later included on the soundtrack to the hit television show Friends.
# 6 – Time
“Time” was the fourth single released from the band’s debut album Cracked Rear View. It was also the fourth straight single to reach the Billboard Top 20. However, it was the first one to miss out on reaching the top 10 as it peaked at number 14. The song was written by Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, Darius Rucker, and Jim Sonefeld.
# 5 – I Will Wait
In 1998, Hootie & The Blowfish released the album Musical Chairs. The first single released from the album was entitled “I Will Wait.” It was a fantastic song but failed to make its way onto the Billboard Top 100. We love how this song starts with a minor chord riff and then builds through the verses until it hits that slamming major chord chorus.
# 4 – Old Man & Me
Boy, it must have been tough for Hootie & The Blowfish to follow up on their incredible debut album that featured four top 20 singles and sold more records than any other album in 1985. The band didn’t retreat from the task and released a good follow-up album in 1996 entitled Fairweather Johnson. While the album did nowhere as well as their debut album, we really like the initial single that we present here called Old Man & Me.
# 3 – Hold My Hand
“Hold My Hand” was the first single released from the band’s debut album Cracked Rear View. The song first turned the world on to the great band Hootie & The Blowfish. The song peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1994. The song was a welcome reprieve for many from the sounds of grunge bands that were dominating the music world at the time. This song just makes you feel good.
# 2 – Let Her Cry
Hootie & The Blowfish won a Grammy Award for their song “Let Her Cry” in 1994 from the Cracked Rear View album. The song was released as the second single from the album. It was even more successful than the album’s first single. “Let Her Cry” peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 in 94.
# 1 – I Only Wanna Be With You
We close out our list of top 10 Hootie & The Blowfish songs with the band’s biggest hit of their career. The song “I Only Wanna Be With You” was the group’s highest-charting song, peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1995. It was the third single released for their fab album Cracked Rear View. More importantly, this song made everyone fall in love with the band. One can’t remember the 1990s without hearing this song blasting through their memories.
Top 10 Hootie & The Blowfish Songs article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2023
Classicrockhistory.com claims ownership of all its original content and Intellectual property under United States Copyright laws and those of all other foreign countries. No one person, business, or organization is allowed to re-publish any of our original content anywhere on the web or in print without our permission. All photos used are either supplied by the artists, public domain Creative Commons photos, or licensed officially from Shutterstock under license with ClassicRockHistory.com.
