Hootie & the Blowfish is an American pop-rock band, originally formed at the University of South Carolina by Darius Rucker, Dean Felbe, Jim "Soni" Sonefeld and Mark Bryan.  Although they had independently released demos and albums prior to 1994, their mainstream debut album was Cracked Rear View (1994) and it was an instant success, ultimately going platinum 16 times in the U.S. and becoming the best-selling album of 1995. The album was propelled by four hits, "Hold My Hand", "Let Her Cry", "Only Wanna Be With You", and "Time". In 1995, Hootie and 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." The band won the "Best New Artist" award at the 1995 Grammy Awards.   In 1995, Hootie & the Blowfish contributed the song "Hey Hey What Can I Do" to the Encomium tribute album to Led Zeppelin. Also, their cover of Canadian group 54-40's "I Go Blind", originally released on the soundtrack to the TV series Friends in 1995, did not appear on Cracked Rear View or Fairweather Johnson, but nevertheless became a surprise hit at radio in 1997 after three singles from Fairweather Johnson had been released. Both "Hey Hey What Can I Do" and "I Go Blind" were later released on the rarities/B-sides collection, Scattered, Smothered and Covered.  Hootie & the Blowfish appeared on MTV Unplugged on the eve of the release of their second album, 1996's Fairweather Johnson. Though sales began promisingly, the album quickly ran out of steam, having sold four million copies in the U.S. Hootie & the Blowfish has since released four more studio albums, Musical Chairs; Scattered, Smothered and Covered; Hootie & the Blowfish; and Looking for Lucky.  The band's name comes from two of frontman Darius Rucker's college choir friends, neither of whom was ever a band member. One, with a round face and glasses, was nicknamed Hootie because of his perceived owl-like appearance. The Blowfish also got his nickname from his facial appearance, in his case chubby cheeks.  The band currently has an extensive touring schedule and does an annual New Year's Eve show at the Silverton Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.  See Hootie and the Blowfish LIVE!  Purchase your Hootie and the Blowfish tickets today!