  Counting Crows hail from the San
Francisco Bay area and consist of Adam Duritz
(vocals), David Bryson (guitar), Charles
Gillingham (keyboards), Matt Malley (bass),
Ben Mize (drums), and Dan Vickery. The group
started to form in 1989 and hit it big with
their debut LP in 1994 on alternative, rock
and pop radio, spawned by the infectious hit,
"Mr.
Jones."
Typically with most "overnight
success" stories, the Crows have had
their share of criticisms as well. But unlike
other bands in similar situations (i.e. Hootie
& The Blowfish), the Crows were more
reluctant to over-saturate the airwaves with
singles or TV appearances.
The creation of the Counting
Crows began when Duritz and Bryson met in San
Francisco and started playing acoustic shows
in local coffeehouses and small clubs, and
writing songs together. They duo called
themselves "Sordid Humor."
Other band members were added
(Malley, Gillingham, and Steve Bowman) and
the band was formed and named after an old
English rhyme. The band became favorites in
the bay area and soon several record labels
were interested in them.
The Counting Crows eventually
landed a record contract with Geffen Records
subsidiary, DGC Records and recorded a demo.
The Counting Crows first became
noticed as a replacement performance at the
Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame induction
ceremonies (replacing Van Morrison to
sing"Caravan").
 The Counting Crows' debut LP, August
And Everything After, was released, but
didn't take off until the following year. The
LP was considered dark and moody with
striking lyrics and expressive vocals and was
hailed by Rolling Stone magazine as
"one of the best rock releases of the
year."
The first track heard on radio
and seen on video channels, "Mr.
Jones"
introduced the group to the country. The LP
was praised for its contemplative lyrics and
soulful rock sound of Duritz. Eventually, the
LP found commercial success and spawned the
additional radio tracks, "Round Here" and "Rain King."
 # 6
Singles Artist of the Year
 The Counting Crows appeared on Saturday
Night Live.
August
And Everything After was certified gold.
The Counting Crows hit the Top
40 with "Mr.
Jones."
August
And Everything After was certified
platinum.
The Counting Crows hit the Top 10 with "Mr.
Jones."
The Counting Crows hit #1 for a week with "Mr.
Jones."
 August
And Everything After became one of
the biggest sellers of the year, hitting the
Top 10, and continued to sell well into 1995,
eventually selling over 7 million copies in
the U.S.
The band toured with Cracker,
and soon became the spotlight of the tour.
Eventually, the band found themselves opening
for some of the Rolling
Stones dates.
Another track by the Crows that
made it to the radio was "Einstein On
The Beach" from a compilation LP, DGC
Rarities Volume 1.
August
And Everything After was certified
2x platinum.
 After the success of their debut
LP, Counting Crows was lost their drummer,
Steve Bowman, who went on to form Third
Eye Blind. Bowman was replaced with . Ben
Mize, formerly of Cracker.
Dan Vickery (guitarist) also joined the
group's line-up.
One of the Counting Crows
biggest fans and supporters has been David
Letterman. When the band appeared on his
show, Dave introduced the band with high
praise: "Our next guests are one of the
best new bands around and this is their debut
album here. It's entitled August
And Everything After telling you something,
if you don't . And I'm have a copy
of this, there's something wrong with
you."
The Counting Crows hit the Top
40 with "Round Here."
August
And Everything After was certified 3x
platinum.
The Counting Crows hit the Top 10 with "Round Here."
The Counting Crows topped the
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for a week
with "Einstein On The Beach."
Counting Crows won a MTV Video Music
Award for Best New Artist ("Mr.
Jones").
August
And Everything After was certified 4x
platinum.
The Counting Crows hit the Top
40 with "Rain King."
August
And Everything After was certified 5x
platinum.
 # 136
Singles Artist of the Year
Counting Crows won an American Music
Award for Favorite Alternative Band
and were nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock
Album and Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist.
 Counting Crows were nominated
for 2 Grammy
Awards for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a
Duo or Group ("Round Here") and Best New Artist.
The band could be heard on the Clueless soundtrack covering
the Psychedelic Furs' song,
"The Ghost In You."
 # 91
Singles Artist of the Year
August
And Everything After was certified 6x
platinum.
 The Counting Crow's
second LP, Recovering
The Satellites was released and
debuted at #1. Track such as "Angels Of The Silences" and the Top 10,
"A Long December" continued the
band's popularity on radio and video
channels. The LP continued the Crow's ability
to create moody rock ballads and catchy
alternative tracks. Like their debut LP, Recovering
The Satellites continued Durtiz's
introspective songwriting and now focused
more on the pros and cons of fame.
August
And Everything After was certified 7x
platinum.
The Counting Crows hit
the Top 40 with "Angels Of The Silences."
Recovering
The Satellites topped the Billboard
Top 200 Albums chart for a week.
Recovering
The Satellites was certified platinum.
The Counting Crows hit
the Top 40 with "A Long December."
 # 29
Singles Artist of the Year
The Counting Crows hit the Top 10 with "A Long December."
Recovering
The Satellites was certified 2x platinum.
The band hit the Top 40
with "Daylight Fading."
The Counting Crows
performed for VH1's Storytellers.
The Counting
Crows were nominated for a MTV Video Music
Award for Best Group Video ("A Long December").
The band performed live for
MTV's Live From The 10 Spot.
The Counting Crows found some
problems during touring when Duritz was
ordered by doctors to take 4 days off from
singing due to throat problems. The fear was
that any straining of his vocal chord nodes
could result in permanent damage. The band
missed a few appearances on their tour with The
Wallflowers but were soon back into the
action.
 The Counting Crows released a
2-CD set, Across
A Wire - Live In New York featuring 21
live tracks from Live At The 10 Spot
(recorded for MTV on November 6, 1997 at
Hammerstein Ballroom in New York) and Storytellers
(recorded for VH1 on August 12, 1997 at
Chelsea Studios in New York).
Duritz talked with SonicNet
about work on their next LP: "I play a
ton of xylophone on this album. It's really
good for figuring out pure melody lines. I
don't know whether they'll end up as
xylophone parts... they might be on some
other instrument, but I keep hearing them in
my head as xylophone parts, and then I lay
them down as xylophone tracks."
Across
A Wire - Live In New York was certified gold.
 # 100
Singles Artist of the Year
 A track by the Counting
Crows, "Colorblind," could be found
on the soundtrack for Cruel
Intentions.
The Counting Crows performed at
Woodstock '99 in New York and performed 4
dates in Canada.
The band spent most of the year
in the studio recording a new LP, This
Desert Life. Duritz told SonicNet:
"We made this album without writing any
songs before we started. That really freed up
the sound a bit because we didn't have any
preconceptions, and I think that worked
really well. Nobody had any rules about what
they could do."
The band took part in NetAid.
 The Counting Crows hit the Top
40 with "Hanginaround."
This
Desert Life was released.
This
Desert Life was certified gold.
 # 118
Singles Artist of the Year
 The Counting
Crows hit the Top
10
with "Hanginaround."
This
Desert Life was certified platinum.
 # 146
Singles Artist of the Year
 The Counting Crows released Hard
Candy.
The Counting Crows opened for The Who.
The Counting Crows hit the Top
40 with "American Girl."
Hard
Candy topped the Billboard Internet
Album Sales chart.
Hard
Candy was certified gold.
 # 82
Singles Artist of the Year
 The Counting
Crows hit the Top 40 with Vanessa Carlton on their cover of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" used in the film
Two
Weeks Notice.
The Counting
Crows began a co-headlined tour with John Mayer.
 The Counting Crows released Films
About Ghosts - The Best Of....
 # 84
Singles Artist of the Year
Films
About Ghosts - The Best Of... was certified gold.
 The Counting Crows could be
heard on the soundtrack for Shrek
2
with "Accidentally In Love."
The Counting Crows hit the Top
40 with "Accidentally In Love."
The single "Big Yellow Taxi" was certified
gold.
# 109 on the Top Pop Artists
of the Past 25 Years chart.
The Counting Crows were
nominated for a Golden Globe for Best
Original Song ("Accidentally In Love").
The single "Accidentally In Love" was certified
gold.
The Counting Crows were
nominated for a Grammy Award for Best
Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television
or Other Visual Media (awarded to the
songwriter) ("Accidentally In Love").
The Counting Crows were
nominated for an Academy Award for Best
Original Song ("Accidentally In Love").
The single "Accidentally In Love" was certified
platinum.
 Across
A Wire - Live In New York was certified
platinum.
New
Amsterdam: Live At Heineken Music Hall was released
- a live set from 2003.
 Counting Crows released Saturday
Nights And Sunday Mornings.
Counting Crows topped the
Billboard Top Digital Albums chart with Saturday
Nights And Sunday Mornings.
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