"Hey Jealousy" became a Top 25 hit and went gold, and New Miserable Experience eventually went quadruple platinum; four other charting singles were released from the album.
The band's follow-up album, Congratulations I'm Sorry (1996), went platinum and the single "As Long as It Matters" was nominated for a Grammy Award.
[2] The band's name comes from a photo of W.C. Fields in Kenneth Anger's book Hollywood Babylon, which bore the caption "W.C. Fields with gin blossoms", referring to the actor's telangiectasia-spotted face and rhinophymic nose by the slang term for the skin condition known as rosacea.
In February 1992, while still working to complete it, founding member and lead guitarist/songwriter Hopkins drank heavily and grew increasingly depressed.
Estranged from the band, Hopkins died by suicide on December 5, 1993, after a reported five previous attempts (including one for which he was hospitalized two weeks prior to his death).
[9] Between their first and second albums, Gin Blossoms contributed the single "Til I Hear It from You" for the soundtrack of the 1995 film Empire Records.
[11] The song "As Long as It Matters" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
Wilson and Rhodes launched the Gas Giants while Leen formed a band called Rai and then retired from music to operate a rare book store.
Valenzuela fronted a short-lived outfit called the Low Watts, released a solo album, and kept busy writing and producing.
On December 4, 2001, it was announced that Scott was leaving Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers to rejoin Gin Blossoms.
"[15] In preparation for the band's official reunion show, Rhodes suffered a breakdown due to his ongoing battle with alcohol.
[16] Phil Leavitt of Dada originally took Rhodes's place in the line up, and then Gary Smith (of The Pistoleros, another Tempe band) did.
[17] The band's fourth album, Major Lodge Victory, was originally recorded at Wilson's Mayberry Studios in Tempe.
Major Lodge Victory was released by Hybrid Recordings on August 8, 2006, and "Learning the Hard Way" was the first single.
Over the 2010 Thanksgiving holiday the band traveled to Iraq and played a series of shows for American troops stationed there.
[22] In 2016, Johnson announced in an interview that the band was expected to begin recording its sixth studio album with producer Mitch Easter in the fall.
[26] The tour was cut short in March 2022 due to an accident in which bassist Bill Leen broke his arm.
"[8] In 2017, the Salina Journal described Gin Blossoms as a "Tempe, Ariz.-based indie band [acclaimed] by critics and fans alike for its chiming guitars, introspective lyrics and catchy pop-rock melodies," adding that "Gin Blossoms has maintained its longevity by being mostly a road band.