In less than a month's time, David Letterman will step down from his post on the Late Show and let Stephen Colbert take over. Bands and artists are stopping by the program to pay their respects to the iconic host, and last night's musical guest owes plenty to Letterman. Hootie & the Blowfish blew up in the early '90s with its Cracked Rear View LP and tunes like "Hold My Hand," but not before the Dave gave them his stamp of approval.
"Our next guests made their television debut, listen to this, back in 1994. Oh my god, is that possible?" an excited Letterman said. "Performing the song that started it all...Hootie & the Blowfish."
The group, led by Darius Rucker, laid into "Hold My Hand"—one of the many hits from Cracked Rear View that dominated the '90s pop charts. Rucker gave a loose performance, changing up the cadence of his vocals from the recorded version of the tune. The whole band looked thrilled to return to Letterman's stage, but the host proved to be the most excited of the bunch.
"Sounded great in 1994. Still sounds great," Dave said after the performance. Check it out below via Consequence of Sound.
Cracked Rear View hit number one on the Billboard 200 behind singles like "Let Her Cry" "Only Wanna Be With You" and "Time." The effort was the best-selling album of 1995 and has been certified platinum 16-times over.
The band went on to release two more albums during the '90s—1996's Fairweather Johnson and 1998's Musical Chairs. Neither efforts came close to the popularity of Cracked Rear View. Hootie released two more albums in 2003 and 2005 before Rucker decided to pursue a solo career as a country singer, a move that has paid off quite well for the artist (his fifth LP dropped in March).
While the group doesn't tour together, they still reunite regularly for Hootie's Homegrown Concert, which is slated to take place Aug. 7 and 8.
