How Did Hootie & the Blowfish Become the Biggest Breakout Stars of 1995?

It was the Year of Hootie: With grunge tailing off, country getting huge and top 40 starting to drift to a mellower and rootsier middle, an unassuming group of good-time frat-rockers became the biggest thing in 1995 popular music. After the mid-1994 release of Cracked Rear View started to spread from the Carolinas to the rest of the country, Hootie & the Blowfish dominated 1995 from front to back, with three top 10 hits, a guest (sort-of) appearance on the year’s hottest TV show, over 10 million in sales and nearly as many annoying questions about the band’s name. But within a couple years, the band’s quick fall from pop stardom would prove just as dramatic and difficult-to-explain as its rise.

On this week’s Vintage Pop Stardom episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard managing editor Christine Werthman, a member of the Blowfish’s school since ’95, to talk about the band’s unquestioned peak year of pop stardom. We talk about the many cultural and musical factors that led to the Hootie takeover — and still how improbable the sheer size and scope of it ended up being — as well as why it ultimately wasn’t built to last, and whether the band deserves better than they got in terms of their legacy in both rock and pop music.

And of course, along the way, we ask all the big questions about Hootie & the Blowfish’s year as the big men on the pop-rock campus: Why did so many critics love to hate on Hootie? Is “Hold My Hand” more anthemic or simplistic? Did the SportsCenter anchors in the “Only Wanna Be With You” video go a little too hard with the catchphrases? Was an invisible Hootie cameo worth more to a ’90s sitcom than another band actually showing up? And of course: What kind of career could Hootie & the Blowfish have had if they had just gone with a different band name a decade earlier?

Check it out above — along with a YouTube playlist of some of the most important moments from Hootie’s 1995, all of which are discussed in the podcast — and subscribe to the Greatest Pop Stars podcast on Apple Music or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts) for weekly discussions every Thursday about all things related to pop stardom!

And as we say in every one of these GPS podcast posts — if you have the time and money to spare, please consider donating to any of these causes in the fight for trans rights:

Transgender Law Center

Trans Lifeline

Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe

Also, please consider giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on 5Calls.org — and if you’re in the D.C. area this weekend (May 30-31), definitely check out Liberation Weekend, a music festival supporting trans rights with an incredible lineup of trans artists and allies.