Second Cup Cafe: The Wiggles

The Wiggles aren't your typical touring band.

While the group got its start in the U.S. touring with a purple dinosaur named Barney and has an audience under the age of 5, its members are rock stars in their own right.

Their album, "The Wiggles" achieved Gold and Platinum status, and now they're recording a song with country star Keith Urban.

So who are these pre-school entertainment sensations?

The Wiggles have rewritten the book about how children can be entertained with song and dance.

Sam Moran (Yellow), Murray Cook (Red), Jeff Fatt (Purple) and Anthony Field (Blue) and the characters they've created are now a part of the lives of millions of children across the globe.

They're celebrating their 19th year, and hoav sold more than 24 million DVDs, 8 million books and 8 million CDs worldwide. They've sold out concerts on five continents, and their TV show is watched daily by millions of children across the globe.

The Wiggles even beat out Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban and Kylie Minogue as the highest-earning entertainers in Australia (from 2006 - 2008).

Their latest CD, "Hot Poppin' Popcorn," is in stores now, and they came all the way from "Down Under," to perform in The Early Show on Saturday Morning's "Second Cup Cafe."

What's The Wiggles' secret to success?

According to Field, much of it comes from their knowledge of child development.

"A lot of what we do comes from a child's perspective", he says n The Wiggles' official website. "It's got a lot to do with what songs are about, and the language we use, and I like to think we know how to write pretty catchy tunes. Right from the start, we gave a lot of thought to what was appropriate for children's music."

The Wiggles was the brainchild of Field, Cook and Greg Page, who met while studying Early Childhood Education at Sydney's Macquarie University.

What began as music assignments became a very fun, very lucrative career path. With the help of Fatt, who was with Anthony in the popular 1980s band The Cockroaches, The Wiggles were created. The Wiggles took a demo tape to ABC Music, which released their self-titled album in 1991.

The Wiggles are about to embark on the summer leg of their "Wiggly Circus Live" tour, in which the band will visit 26 cities throughout the United States. They will return to North America for the fall leg of the tour in October, performing in more than 20 cities in both the U.S. and Canada.

The Wiggles can be found exclusively on TV in the United States on the 24-hour preschool television channel, SPROUT. They host their own three-hour block of programming, Sprout's "Wiggly Waffle," which airs every weekday from 6 - 9 a.m. ET.