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Key Points Howl Owl Howl supergroup debuts “My Cologne,” inspired by Ariana Grande’s R.E.M. perfume. Mike Mills explains song's origin: “I want to smell like Ariana Grande…all in good fun.” Band features Darius Rucker, Mike Mills, and Steve Gorman; first tour starts November 3. Howl Owl Howl, the new supergroup featuring star country artist Darius Rucker from Hootie & the Blowfish, former R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills and onetime Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman, has released their debut single and the song’s inspiration may surprise some. Mills took to the trio’s official Instagram account to explain the origins of the song in a video clip from a room decorated with R.E.M. platinum awards. 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade’s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 “Ariana Grande put out a record not long ago and her first single was called ‘R.E.M.’ OK, sure. It’s the dream stage of sleep. That’s where we got it,” he explains. “It’s universal. That’s fine. The she put out a line of perfume called R.E.M. and I said, ‘Well, OK. That’s OK.’ And then one of the containers for her perfume was a cassette. I mean, literally a cassette and it said R.E.M. on it. And then I said, ‘OK That’s going over the line. I gotta say something about that, so you know, we’re not upset or anything but I thought it was just funny. So, I wrote a song called ‘My Cologne,’ that the chorus line is ‘I want to smell like Ariana Grande and I think she wants you to smell like me.’ And it’s just all in good fun. And I hope she likes it,” Mills laughs. “But that’s our single ‘My Cologne.’ The upbeat song opens with Rucker on lead vocals before he hands the mic to Mills after the first chorus. Interestingly, it’s not the first time that a band with Mills has written about scents and a celebrity, but it may be the first time they’ve come together in a song. R.E.M.’s final album, 2011’s Collapse Into Now features the songs “Mine Smell Like Honey” and “Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I,” though singer Michael Stipe was the primary lyricist in that band. Six months after the album’s release, R.E.M. announced it was amicably breaking up. “”All things must end, and we wanted to do it right, to do it our way,” Stipe said at the time. Since then, the group’s members have continued to work on various other projects. Rucker found success as a solo country artist during Hootie & the Blowfish’s 10-year hiatus from 2008-2018 and has toured and recorded with the band at various times since 2019. It should be noted that R.E.M. was a major influence on Hootie & the Blowfish and in 2020, the group released a cover of R.E.M.’s best-known song, “Losing My Religion.” Gorman was a longtime member of the Black Crowes from 1987 through 2001 and played on their first nine albums. He rejoined the group in 2005 but was not asked to rejoin the group when it reformed in 2019. Howl Owl Howl is set to launch their first tour on Nov. 3 in Indianapolis with dates running through Nov. 15 in Atlanta.
