The band's lineup for most of its existence has been the quartet of Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim Sonefeld.

The band went on hiatus in 2008 until they announced plans for a full reunion tour in 2019 and released their first new studio album in fourteen years, Imperfect Circle.

[2] Bryan, a guitar player, heard Rucker singing in the showers of the dorm they shared and was impressed by his vocal ability.

Eventually, they collaborated with bassist Dean Felber, a former high school bandmate of Bryan's, and Brantley Smith, a drummer.

[7] Sommer recalled that other record labels were uninterested in signing Hootie & The Blowfish because their sound was radically different from the grunge music that was popular at the time.

[9] Miami Dolphins' Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino appeared along with several other athletes in the band's video for the song "Only Wanna Be with You".

[14] The group covered the 1968 Orpheus hit "Can't Find the Time" for the soundtrack of the Jim Carrey movie Me, Myself & Irene (2000).

The song's writer, Bruce Arnold, traded verses with Darius on several occasions when the band played live on the West Coast.

Specifically, the title refers to an order of hash browns—shredded potatoes scattered on the grill, smothered with diced onions, and covered with melted cheese.

[18] Rucker went on to record the solo albums Learn to Live, Charleston, SC 1966, True Believers, Home for the Holidays, and Southern Style.

In August 2015, Darius Rucker said on The Today Show that the band members were working on new songs and would record a new album when they had enough material.

[19] In 2015, the Irish band Music for Dead Birds released a song titled 'Hooty and the Blowfish', a slight misspelling of the group's name.

[20][clarification needed] On December 3, 2018, the band announced the 44-city Group Therapy Tour with Barenaked Ladies in 2019 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the release of Cracked Rear View.

[24] In 2022, Sonefeld released a memoir entitled Swimming with a Blowfish: Hootie, Healing, and the Ride of a Lifetime (ISBN 978-1-63576-767-4).

The Meat Puppets, Jump, Little Children, Virginwool, Treadmill Trackstar, and Treehouse released one album each on Breaking Records.

[25] The band's members are avid golfers and have sponsored the annual spring Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am Golf Tournament, benefiting local charities, since 1995.

On December 5, 1998, Darius Rucker broke into a cappella solo of the US National Anthem during the lowering of colors on board USS Enterprise (CVN-65), which was docked in Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates.