October 21 marks the day when Columbia, S.C., birthplace of rock band Hootie & The Blowfish, pays tribute to the 1996 Grammy award winners with permanent memorials – a piece of public art and a street renamed after them.

On its website, The Five Points Association acknowledges the band’s impact “on Five Points, the 90's music scene and the city of Columbia,” and plans the date for a major event starting with a press conference renaming (honorary) Santee Avenue to “Hootie Boulevard,” followed by the unveiling of a “major” piece of public art “to honor them permanently” and cap the day with a free tribute concert.

The organizers expect all band members to grace the event.

Hootie & the Blowfish formed in 1985 at the University of South Carolina by then freshmen Darius Rucker, Dean Felber, Jim Sonefeld, and Mark Bryan. Their 1994 debut album “Cracked Rear View,” the best-selling album of 1995, propelled them to the limelight going platinum 19 times in the U.S. and is now the 15th best-selling album of all time.

The band had so far released seven studio albums with sixteen hit singles on various Billboard charts.