Darius Rucker is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Hootie & the Blowfish. He started the band in 1986 at the University of South Carolina with his friends Mark Bryan, Jim “Soni” Sonefeld, and Dean Felber. The band released five albums and charted six top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including “Hold My Hand”, “Let Her Cry”, and “Only Wanna Be with You”. Rucker also co-wrote most of the songs with the other members of the band.
In 2008, Rucker announced that Hootie & the Blowfish would be taking a break. He then pursued a solo career in country music, releasing his first album, Learn to Live, in 2009. The album featured his first number one hit on the country charts, “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It”. He followed it with two more number one hits, “It Won’t Be Like This for Long” and “Alright”, and two more top ten hits, “History in the Making” and “Come Back Song”. His second country album, Charleston, SC 1966, was released in 2010 and also reached number one on the country charts. It included his second number one hit, “This”.
Rucker has won several awards for his music, including a Grammy Award for Best Country Album in 2011 for Charleston, SC 1966. He has also been nominated for several other awards, such as a Grammy Award for Best Country Solo Performance in 2012 for “Wagon Wheel”, a CMA Award for Entertainer of the Year in 2013 and 2017, and a ACM Award for Entertainer of the Year in 2014. He has also been honored with several awards from various organizations, such as the American Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, and the Academy of Country Music Awards.
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Wagon Wheel[/caption]
Darius Rucker’s most successful single and country music album are both milestones in his solo career. His single “Wagon Wheel“, which was released in 2013, is a cover of a song co-written by Bob Dylan and Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show. It became Rucker’s first solo single to be certified 4x Platinum by the RIAA and won him a Grammy Award for Best Country Solo Performance. It sold over four million copies in the US alone.
