Darius Rucker (born May 13 1966 in Charleston, South Carolina) is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the band Hootie & the Blowfish. He is a graduate of Middleton High School (South Carolina) (class of 1984).
Musical career
Rucker has been a member of Hootie & the Blowfish since their original formation in 1990. He met fellow band members, Mark Bryan, Jim "Soni" Sonefeld, and Dean Felber, while attending the University of South Carolina. Also, he hates the name Hootie; according to the band, the name "Hootie" was in fact the nickname of one of Rucker's classmates (as was "The Blowfish") and not any particular member of the band itself. In 2001, he made his solo debut album The Return of Mongo Slade for Atlantic Records. Because of contractual changes, it was never released. Rucker then signed with Hidden Beach Recordings and released Back to Then, an R&B album, in July 2002. In March 2005, Rucker portrayed a singing cowboy in a Burger King commercial for the Tendercrisp Bacon Cheddar Ranch sandwich. While humorous in tone, the ad showcases Rucker's love of country music. The song sung in the commercial was a parody of "Big Rock Candy Mountain". He recently made an appearance at the 42nd annual Academy of Country Music Awards as a presenter along side country singer Terri Clark. He is also featured on Jill Scott's new CD 'Collaborations'. Rucker sang on a track entitled "God's Reasons" for the film The Still Life set to be released in 2007. The song was co written by Dean Dinning, of Toad the Wet Sprocket. He also makes a guest appearance on the CD Between Friends by Paul Sanchez. Rucker is working on a country album that is due to be released on the Capitol Records Nashville label in the Spring of 2008. The first single from this record should be out in early 2008.
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Personal life
He has been married to wife Beth Leonard since 2000. They have one daughter.
