Born on This Day in 1966, the Grammy-Winning Rock Star Who Became a Boundary-Breaking Country Superstar

On this day (May 13) in 1966, Darius Rucker was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He first rose to fame in the 1990s as the frontman of Hootie & the Blowfish. The band released multiple hit songs and albums, including their double-Diamond certified debut, and won a pair of Grammys. Then, Rucker kicked off his solo career in country music and quickly became one of the genre’s most successful artists.

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Rucker’s music career began in 1986 at the University of South Carolina, when he and some college friends formed a band called Hootie & the Blowfish. They eventually began playing the local club circuit, honing their skills and building a strong fanbase. After eight years of preparation, they released their debut album, Cracked Rear View, through Atlantic Records in July 1994. It climbed to the top of the Billboard 200 chart. In 2018, it was certified 21x Platinum by the RIAA, making it the best-selling debut album of all time.

The album produced three top 10 hits–“Hold My Hand,” “Let Her Cry,” and “Only Wanna Be with You.” “Let Her Cry” brought them the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 1996. They won Best New Artist the same year.

After nearly a decade and four more Hootie albums and a failed R&B project, Rucker announced that the band was going on an indefinite hiatus in 2008. Later that year, he found solo stardom.

[RELATED: On This Day in 2018, Hootie & the Blowfish Shattered a Record Held by Guns N’ Roses]

Darius Rucker Finds Country Fame

Darius Rucker faced several obstacles when entering the country music world. First, country music is one of the only genres in which fans believe authenticity matters. As a result, those fans are likely to see those artists as outsiders encroaching on the genre, whether the industry accepts them or not. Post Malone and Jelly Roll are prime examples of this. That wasn’t the only barrier Rucker faced, though. The last Black artist to find real success in country music was Charley Pride, who had his last solo hit in 1984.

Despite the obstacles standing in his way, Rucker found instant success. He released his debut single, “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It,” in May 2008. It went to No. 1. “It Won’t Be Like This for Long” and “Alright,” followed, giving him three consecutive chart-toppers.

His debut album, Learn to Live, dropped later that year. It reached the top of the country chart and has been certified 3x Platinum.

Rucker Broke Barriers

Darius Rucker broke barriers and set milestones when he stepped into the country music world. He was the first Black artist since Charley Pride to top the Hot Country Songs chart. In 2009, he became the first to win New Artist of the Year at the CMA Awards.

“In the ’80s, I was really into bands like Dwight Yoakam and Lyle Lovett and Nanci Griffith and New Grass Revival,” Rucker told PBS. “I listened to them all the time. And Radney Foster came out with a solo record in 1989 called Del Rio, TX, 1959, and it changed the way I heard music. It just blew me away,” he added. That album made him want to make country music.

Today, he gets to inspire people who were in the same place he was all those years ago. “All over the country, people are coming out of the woodwork, telling me, ‘I’m black, but I love country music. Now you make it okay,’” he revealed.

“Now, I’m in heaven,” he said of his career. “I mean, I get to go in the studio and sing country music. That’s pretty awesome.”

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