"Hold My Hand" is the debut single of the American rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band Hootie & the Blowfish

Hootie & the Blowfish

Hootie & the Blowfish is an American rock band that enjoyed popularity in the second half of the 1990s. They were originally formed in 1986 at the University of South Carolina by Darius Rucker, Dean Felber, Jim Sonefeld, and Mark Bryan. The band has recorded five studio albums to date, and has...

. All four of the band members (Mark Bryan

Mark Bryan

Mark Bryan is the lead guitarist for the band Hootie & the Blowfish. He also plays the mandolin, among numerous other instruments, and helps with background vocals....

, Dean Felber, Darius Rucker

Darius Rucker

Darius Rucker is an American musician. He first gained fame as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, which he founded in 1986 at the University of South Carolina along with Mark Bryan, Jim "Soni" Sonefeld and Dean Felber...

 and Jim Sonefeld) wrote the song. Released in July 1994, "Hold My Hand" charted at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

. The song includes a backing vocal from David Crosby.

Parody

"Hold my Hand" was later adapted into a Sesame Street song about crossing the street. It stars the same band that recorded the song.

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...

 said that the song "has a singalong chorus that epitomizes the band's good-times vibes." Also, Matthew Wilkening of AOL Radio

AOL Radio

AOL Radio powered by Slacker, , is an online radio service available only in the United States.- Roots :...

 ranked the song at #1 on the list of the 100 Best Songs Ever, stating that it wasn't the band's fault that AOL Radio "overindulged" on the song, and that, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

Chart performance

"Hold My Hand" peaked at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 and number six on Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks

Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks

The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...

.

Chart (1994)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Maintsream Rock Tracks	4
Canadian RPM Top Singles	36
New Zealand Singles Chart	37
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	50