The four members of Hootie & the Blowfish, vocalist/guitarist Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber and Jim "Soni" Sonefeld, met at the University of South Carolina in the early ‘90s. Hootie & the Blowfish released their debut album, Cracked Rear View, in 1994 and the record's lead single "Hold My Hand" was an instant success, making its way to the Top Ten by early 1995. Cracked Rear View eventually soared to number one and went platinum more than a few times thanks to Hootie & the Blowfish's comfortable brand of guitar rock that was instantly accessible to listeners of all shapes and sizes. The album spawned other popular singles "Let Her Cry" and "Only Wanna Be With You," both of which can still be heard on mainstream radio to this day.

Hootie & the Blow Fish sold over 13 million copies of their debut record (in the U.S. alone!) by the time they issued their sophomore release, Fairweather Johnson, in the spring of 1996. Cracked Rear View proved to be a hard act to follow; Hootie & the Blowfish didn't secure instant success with their second record as they did with their first. Fairweather Johnson failed to produce any megahits like "Hold My Hand" or "Let Her Cry," despite entering the charts at number one and selling two million copies in the first four months of its release. In 1998 the band released their third effort, Musical Chairs followed by Scattered, Smothered and Covered in 2000. The album featured previously unreleased material as well as songs polled by fans and a few of Hootie & the Blowfish's tributes to their favorite bands like the Smiths and R.E.M.

2003 saw Hootie & the Blowfish with new label Atlantic and an albums worth of new studio material for their eponymous fifth album. Hootie & the Blowfish was followed by a best of release in 2004 which included all of the group's biggest hits as well as some cover songs. One year later Lucky was released through their own Sneaky Long label; the disk featured numerous guest contributions and in 2006 a live album followed.