BLACK HISTORY MONTH THROWBACK SPOTLIGHT: A star in pop AND country… Darius Rucker!
The former HOOTIE front man can really do it all.
Growing up, Darius Rucker was on R&B… AND on country music. He says his family and friends would sometime mock him for not being into black artists as much as they wished he would be, but his love for country – and “Hee Haw” – was in his blood.
At the University of South Carolina, though, he latched onto a growing modern rock scene with a couple of friends, playing the bar and club scene, and rising to fame as the front man of Hootie and the Blowfish.
Their songs were everywhere. Like, literally…EVERYWHERE. Within two years of “Cracked Rear View,” their debut album, my marching band was even playing “Only Wanna Be With You” at halftime of our high school football games.
But, for anyone who knew Darius well, they weren’t surprised to see his return to his roots as a country artist in the early 2000s. His rise as both a rock star, and a country star, is not unique. But his story to be one of the very few black artists to thrive in both genres – NOW THAT is truly special.
If you haven’t had a chance to learn about his journey, watch this piece from CNN below. I hope you understand how unique and special Darius’ story is – and I hope you’ll enjoy his music, in all genres, as I do today!
