Third Eye Blind is an American rock band founded in 1993 in San Francisco, California. After years of lineup changes in the early and mid-1990s, Stephan Jenkins and Kevin Cadogan, the band’s songwriting pair, secured the band’s first major-label recording contract with Elektra Records in 1996. Jenkins (vocals, rhythm guitar), Cadogan (lead guitar), Arion Salazar (bass guitar), and Brad Hargreaves (drums) formed the band in 1997 and published their self-titled first album. Cadogan was fired from the band under disputed circumstances shortly after the release of the band’s second album, Blue, with the same line-up in 1999.
Third Eye Blind and Blue were certified platinum six times and single platinum in the United States, respectively, by the band in the late 1990s. Several tracks were commercial triumphs as well, with “Semi-Charmed Life,” “Jumper,” and “How’s It Going to Be” all hitting the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, and “Never Let You Go” reaching the Top 20. Third Eye Blind has sold around 12 million albums worldwide.
