Imperfect Circle is the latest milestone in a remarkable career that has seen Hootie & The Blowfish sell over 25 million records worldwide, win numerous awards including two Grammy Awards, and secure the tenth biggest selling album in history with their Cracked Rear View debut. The band took a break from full-time touring in 2007, reuniting annually for a variety of philanthropic events whilst also pursuing solo projects. 2019 marked their first full-time touring year in over a decade as they embarked on the Group Therapy Tour ahead of Imperfect Circle, their first new album in nearly 15 years.

“We were sitting around before going into the studio and talking about album names and stuff and of course REM came up because they’re such an important band to us,” says Darius. “‘Perfect Circle’ is an REM song that we all love a lot (“One of the best”), and I said, ‘Perfect Circle,’ and then we thought Imperfect Circle was a better name, because just looking at us, our career, it’s the 25th anniversary of Cracked Rear View, but we’ve been playing together 30-something years and for us to be here, to be doing this tour and to be making a record, it just seems like Imperfect Circle was perfect.”

Produced by Rucker’s longtime collaborator Frank Rogers and Jeff Trott, who co-wrote three songs on the record, Imperfect Circle also features new co-writes with superstar singer/songwriters Ed Sheeran and Chris Stapleton. “There’s something timeless about their sound,” proclaimed USA Today. “From their stupendous 1994 debut Cracked Rear View, which is certified 21x Platinum to their reunion album, Imperfect Circle, Hootie & The Blowfish appear ready to pick up where they left off as a pop music phenomenon.”