Blues Traveler

Blues Traveler formed in 1987 in Princeton, New Jersey, crystallizing around John Popper's harmonica and vocals, Chan Kinchla's guitar, Brendan Hill's drums, and Bobby Sheehan's bass. Years of relentless bar-band gigging built a live reputation first, and in 1992 the band co-founded the H.O.R.D.E. festival with bands like Phish and Spin Doctors—the jam scene's touring answer to Lollapalooza.

The album four arrived September 13, 1994 and became a juggernaut, eventually certified 6× platinum. "Run-Around," released as a single on February 28, 1995, climbed to #8 on the Hot 100 and then simply refused to leave—49 consecutive weeks on the chart, a record at the time. Its Wizard of Oz–themed video, in which a young "photogenic" fake band mimes onstage while the real musicians play behind a curtain until Toto pulls it back, was an MTV staple that winked at exactly what a harmonica-driven bar band was doing on Top 40 radio. In 1996 the song won the Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and "Hook" carried the run to #23 on the Hot 100.

Then 1999 turned cruel. Popper underwent emergency heart surgery that summer, and on August 20, 1999, Bobby Sheehan was found dead of an accidental drug overdose. The band carried on—Chan's brother Tad stepped in on bass—but the mid-'90s lightning had passed. What remains is one of the strangest facts of '90s radio: for a couple of years, the biggest new sound on Top 40 was a harmonica.