Hootie & the Blowfish earn most-added distinction at Country radio with their first new music in nearly 15 years. The band will perform new single “Hold On,” praised by Rolling Stone for its “uplifting” message and “funky, staccato guitar riff,” live on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Friday, Nov. 1 to celebrate Imperfect Circle’s highly-anticipated release date.
Since bursting onto the scene with their Diamond-certified debut album Cracked Rear View, Hootie & the Blowfish have been difficult to box into a genre, demonstrating influences ranging from pop and rock to folk, soul and blues. With “Hold On,” penned by Country music stalwart Chris Stapleton together with Jim Beavers, the GRAMMY Award-winning band makes their debut at Country radio, where frontman Darius Rucker has found success throughout the past decade of his solo career.
“I truly believe that ‘Let Her Cry’ is the first Country song I ever wrote. What we’re doing now and the music we made in our earliest days, even what I’ve done in my solo career – the lines are all so blurred that it’s hard to define genres today.” shares Rucker. “It’s really exciting for me to be back on the Country charts, now with my Hootie & the Blowfish bandmates, and to know that at the end of the day people are still connecting with our music all these years later.”
“Hold On” follows “Rollin’,” “Miss California” and “Lonely On A Saturday Night” as a preview of what’s to come with the November 1 release of Imperfect Circle, available for pre-order now.
For more information, visit www.Hootie.com, and follow on Facebook @hootieandtheblowfish, Twitter @HootieTweets and Instagram @hootieofficial.
About Hootie & the Blowfish
With the rich, bluesy vocals of Darius Rucker and gleeful harmonies of guitarist Mark Bryan, bassist Dean Felber and drummer Jim “Soni” Sonefeld, Hootie & the Blowfish have sold over 25 million records worldwide to date after their infectious melodies hit the airwaves in 1994 with hits such as “Hold My Hand,” “Let Her Cry” and “Only Wanna Be With You.”
The quartet met at the University of South Carolina where endless gigs at frat houses and local bars built a major local buzz. Their blend of pop, folk, blues, soul and rock made them hard to pigeonhole, but easily accessible to anyone who loved good music.
Atlantic Records, impressed by their regional draw, signed them and released Cracked Rear View in 1994. The album had been out for six months before the band played on the Late Show with David Letterman which sent sales skyrocketing, eventually landing at No. 1 on the Billboard chart the following spring. Cracked Rear View and the band went on to win two GRAMMY Awards, an MTV Video Music Award, a Billboard Music Award, and multiple People’s Choice Awards. Cracked Rear View went on to earn the band Billboard‘s Band of the Year Award in 1996 and the RIAA’s Diamond Award for sales in excess of 10 million units. Cracked Rear View remains the 5th most certified studio album in music business history.
The band remained a top draw nationwide and released five more albums for Atlantic: Fairweather Johnson, Musical Chairs, Scattered, Smothered & Covered, Hootie & The Blowfish and The Best of Hootie & The Blowfish, as well as Looking For Lucky on their own Sneaky Long Records and LIVE in Charleston, The Homegrown Concert Event DVD and CD. The band took a break from full-time touring in 2007, reuniting annually for a variety of philanthropic events while also pursuing solo projects. 2019 marked the band’s first full-time touring year in over a decade as they embarked on the Group Therapy Tour ahead of Imperfect Circle, their first album in nearly 15 years due out November 1 under a new record deal with Universal Music Group Nashville.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Ebie McFarland, Essential Broadcast Media