Darius Rucker #1

Darius Rucker 

By: Julia Riker 

Darius Rucker was born on May 13, 1966, in Charleston, South Carolina. He started out in the band Hootie and the Blowfish, and then went on to become a solo artist focusing more on country music. Darius had a very rough time growing up. His family financially struggled and he often found himself living together with his mother, two aunts, grandmother and fourteen other children all in a three bedroom apartment.  Darius described his childhood as a "typical Southern African American upbringing," The Rucker family was very musical. Darius frequently sang around the house to his mother's albums from Al Green and Betty Wright. As he became older, Darius got more and more involved with his church choir and his high school choir. After high school he graduated and went on to attend the University of South Carolina. Once he started college he finally realized that he wanted to choose a career that was centered around music. In 1986 Darius met other musicians, Mark Bryan, Jim Sonefeld, and Dean Felber, who would later become his good friends and other members of Hootie and the Blowfish. While with Hootie and the Blowfish Darius wrote and performed his own musical creations. The group's blusey harmonica solos working in tandem with Rucker's deep, baritone voice gave the band a unique sound that caught the attention of listeners. Their first album Cracked Rear View went on to sell over 16 million units while winning two Grammys and becoming Diamond in both the United States and in the U.K. However, slowly, Hooty and the Blowfish's popularity started to decline with their second album selling not nearly as many units as their first. Rucker saw this as an opportunity to start his solo career. He continued to tour and perform with Hootie and the Blowfish while working on his solo effort, a country album called Learn to Live. 
Darius' first single " Don't Think I Don't Think About It" jumped to the Top 20 on the Billboard charts in July of 2008, making him the first African American singer to reach the top of the country charts since Charley Pride in 1988. 


Hootie and the Blowfish "Let HerCry"   https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1aVHLL5egRY


"Darius Rucker." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.