1990s: Verve Records and Headhunters Reunited
Herbie once again scaled the charts in 1994, but in a most unique way. A British hip-hop group called US3 sampled a classic Blue Note side, "Cantaloupe Island," for a track called "Cantaloop" which became a huge international hit for Herbie's old label. The track went Top 20 in a number of countries and was licensed countless times for TV commercials and promos, leading to the resurrection of many great Herbie Hancock tracks throughout the decade.

Herbie signed to the Polygram Label Group in 1994. After an adventurous pop-oriented project for Mercury Records, Dis Is Da Drum, he moved on to Polygram's Verve label, forming an all-star band to record 1996's Grammy-winning The New Standard. This album, another landmark, adapted rock and R&B tunes from recent times to a straight ahead jazz format. In 1997, an eloquent and daring album of duets with Wayne Shorter, 1+1, was released. The legendary Headhunters reunited in 1998, recording an album for Herbie's own Verve-distributed imprint, and touring with the Dave Matthews Band at the arena-rock giant's own request. But the crowning achievement of Herbie Hancock's Verve years thus far has been Gershwin's World. Recorded and released in 1998, this masterwork brought artists from all over the musical spectrum together in a celebration of George Gershwin and his entire artistic milieu. Herbie's collaborators included Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, Kathleen Battle, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Wayne Shorter and Chick Corea. Gershwin's World won three Grammies in 1999, including Best Traditional Jazz Album and Best R&B Vocal Performance for Stevie Wonder's "St. Louis Blues." The entire music world celebrated this album as one of the very finest in Herbie Hancock's incomparable career.

At the end of 1999, Herbie joined two partners--his manager David Passick and former Verve Records president Chuck Mitchell--to form Transparent Music, a multi-media music company dedicated to the presentation of barrier-breaking music of all types, at all tiers of distribution including recordings, films and TV, concert events and the Internet.