Commercial Free Ride Home: Counting Crows

Counting Crows formed in 1991 in the San Francisco Bay Area. They released their first album in 1993 called August and Everything After. This album sold more that 7 million copies nationwide thanks in part to the hit single “Mr. Jones”. The second single off that album called “Round Here” led the band to a Grammy win in 1994 for “Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal”. They also won a Grammy that same year for “Best New Artist”. 

The Counting Crows' sophomore album entitled Recovering the Satellites (1996) hit number 1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and hit number 1 in several other countries. Since then, Counting Crows have amassed a collection of hit singles and all but one of their albums have achieved a spot on the Top 10 album chart. They followed the album up with near-constant touring, concluding with a show at the Hammerstein Ballroom that would become their double live album Across a Wire: Live in New York City in 1998, with the second part being an appearance on VH1 Storytellers. 

Following a performance at the infamous Woodstock 99, the Counting Crows would release This Desert Life (1999). The album would bring more hits for the band in "Hanginaround" and "Colorblind" Their success would continue into the 2000's, with Hard Candy (2002) including their popular cover of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi". They would tour tirelessly through the early 2000's, and would release a greatest hits album Films About Ghosts in 2003. 

In 2004, Dreamworks tapped the Counting Crows to write a song for 2004's Shrek 2, the resulting song "Accidentally in Love" would end up being a massive hit, being nominated for the Oscar for Best Original Song. Focusing more on touring, the band would release New Amsterdam: Live at Heineken Music Hall in 2006, before their 5th album, Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings, came out in 2008. They would keep their focus on touring rather than recording through 2013, releasing two live albums in 2011's August and Everything After: Live at Town Hall and 2013's Echoes of the Outlaw Roadshow, as well as the 2012 covers album Underwater Sunshine (Or What We Did On Our Summer Vacation.  

The Counting Crows would release their first album of new original music since 2008 in Somewhere Under Wonderland (2014). They would then tease a series of EP's being released as a series of "suites", however, after 2021's 4 song EP Butter Miracle, Suite One, they would seemingly scrap the idea, with the full album Butter Miracle, The Complete Sweets being released in May of 2025. 

Click HERE to check out our gallery from The Gaslight Anthem's set last summer on the Central Park Summer Stage!

At 5:20pm from 3/17/25 to 3/21/25, text your name and where you’re listening to 732-545-8275 to enter this text to win contest. Five (5) random entrants will win a pair of tickets to see the Counting Crows at the PNC Bank Arts Center valued at $60.00 each (plus fees), courtesy of Live Nation. Must be at least 18 years old and legal residents of the United States. Unless otherwise specified, listeners are eligible to win in station’s contests; a prize valued under $600 only once every seven (7) days and a prize valued at $600 or more, only once every thirty (30) days. Only one winner per household (whether related or not) is permitted in any contest. Otherwise, WMGQ's General Contest Rules apply and are available by clicking HERE.