Baha Men

History

The Baha Men formed in 1980 as High Voltage, initially playing disco and funk. They performed regularly in nightclubs and hotels in the Bahamas, and self-released several albums.

In 1991 one of their tapes found its way to Atlantic Records A&R man Steve Greenberg, who signed the band to the Big Beat subsidiary, at the same time getting the band to change their name to the Baha Men.

They released their first album under that name, Junkanoo, in 1992, the album including the local hit "Back to the Island". Kalik followed in 1994, including the international hit "Dancing in the Moonlight". The band moved with Greenberg to Polygram for the 1997 album I Like What I Like and Doong Spank, released the following year. The latter sold only 700 copies in the US and the band were dropped by the label.

Greenberg then started his own S-Curve label and signed the band. Original vocalist Nehemiah Hield left in 1999, to be replaced by his nephew Omerit. The band were most popular in the 1990s in Japan, and their 1999 album 2 Zero 0-0 was initially only released in that country.

They achieved great, but short-lived, popularity with 2000's remake of "Who Let the Dogs Out?" (originally composed by Anslem Douglas), produced by Greenberg and Michael Mangini. The song was a chart success in many countries, and also became a popular song at US sporting events.

"Who Let the Dogs Out?" also earned the band several awards: a Grammy Award in 2000 for Best Dance Recording; Billboard Music Awards for World Music Artist of the Year and World Music Album of the Year; and a Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award for Favorite Song. In 2002, they won another Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Band.

In June 2008, "Who Let the Dogs Out?" was discussed on I Love the New Millennium. The Baha Men's most recent album was Ride With Me , released in 2015.

After releasing Night & Day in the summer of 2014, the Baha Men released a Christmas Medley mixing The Little Drummer Boy with Silver Bells. Their single "Off the Leash" was released digitally on July 1, 2015.

On October 25, 2015, the band performed the halftime show for the New York Giants/Dallas Cowboys football game at MetLife Stadium.

Involvement in motion pictures

The Baha Men were one of the many artists to record a song on the album DisneyMania and two of its four sequels. On the first DisneyMania, they recorded "Hakuna Matata" from The Lion King. On DisneyMania 2, they recorded the song "It's a Small World" from the Disney park attraction of the same name. They were absent from DisneyMania 3, though they returned for DisneyMania 4, recording their take on the song "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride" from Lilo and Stitch entitled "Bahaman Roller Coaster Ride". They also recorded the theme song to the Disney TV show, Stanley. A number of their songs have been used in major motion pictures such as: Rugrats In Paris, Miss Congeniality, Rat Race, Around the World in 80 Days and Garfield: The Movie. They also recorded a cover of Elton John's hit "Crocodile Rock" for the film Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course starring Steve Irwin and family. The band has even made an appearance on the big screen, when they starred as themselves in the 1994 romantic comedy My Father the Hero starring Gérard Depardieu and Katherine Heigl. The Baha Men also were featured in the soundtrack of Shrek with their hit song "Best Years of Our Lives". "Who Let the Dogs Out?" was also featured in the 2009 hit comedy The Hangover.

Other appearances

The Baha Men appeared in a special scene from Between the Lions where Leona meets them while reading some books inside the library.