(NEXSTAR) — “Don’t worry, be happy” — in case you had been round within the late Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s, odds are Bobby McFerrin’s 1988 hit by that title might be inextricably tied to at least one singer — and it is not McFerrin, sadly. Possible, you bear in mind an animatronic fish singing it.
Debuting in 1999, Huge Mouth Billy Bass was a novelty product created by Coppell, Texas-based firm Gemmy that shortly turned a global sensation. In reality, the recognition of the singing rubber fish may very well be thought of a pre-social media viral second.
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Huge Mouth Billy Bass’ iconic design options the titular bass mounted on a plaque. A small pink button down beneath would activate the aquatic crooner, which additionally sang Al Inexperienced’s 1974 hit “Take Me to the River.”
Although Billy shortly turned a phenomenon — bought for or gifted by by everybody from Pres. Invoice Clinton, then Prime Minister Tony Blair and late Queen Elizabeth II — the bass craze shortly petered out, though not earlier than promoting almost $100 million by the tip of 2000, per Ranker.
The Huge Mouth Billy Bass, an animatronic singing prop, on a wall (Picture By Santiago Mejia/The San Francisco Chronicle through Getty Photographs)
Nowadays, if you would like a model new BMBB, you may want to look by means of public sale websites like eBay, the place an unique unopened Huge Mouth Billy Bass now goes for as much as $200. That is a steep climb from its unique retail value of round $30. Gemmy additionally launched particular variations of Billy (along with different, much less well-liked characters, like Rocky the Singing Lobster) and people fetch even greater costs (as much as $300).
In the meantime, a used-but-in-good-condition working Huge Mouth Billy Bass (with its unique field) will price you a large number much less. These go for round $100.
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Lastly, although we’re many a long time faraway from Billy’s heyday, there’s nonetheless loads of nostalgia for the gilled vocalist on-line. One occasional pattern that pops up contains tinkering with the product in order that it performs music from different sources. Again in 2021, a well-liked TikTok by person Kevin Heckart featured a Billy Bass-Alexa hookup that allowed Huge Mouth Billy Bass to sing Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass” (get it?).
The product’s memeability makes it a gadget that simply interprets into at present’s well-liked tradition and even those that won’t have been round for its peak nonetheless have affection for the merchandise.
One X person opined in February: “Let the world f—–g know if I don’t get a Big Mouth Billy Bass for my birthday, I’m gonna have the world’s biggest crash out.”
