On this day (October 29) in 2022, Darius Rucker’s version of “Wagon Wheel” received a Diamond Certification from the RIAA. A single or album receives Diamond status for sales of 10 million units. “Wagon Wheel” was the fourth country song to reach the milestone.
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Rucker had a successful run with Hootie and the Blowfish long before he transitioned to country music. The band won two Grammys and had several hit songs. Then, after an unsuccessful attempt to break into R&B, Rucker released Learn to Live in 2008, kicking off his country career.
[RELATED: Behind The Song: The Century-Long Lineage of Bob Dylan and Ketch Secor’s “Wagon Wheel”]
In 2013, Rucker released “Wagon Wheel” as the second single from his third solo country album, True Believers. It topped Billboard’s Country Airplay and Hot Country Songs charts. His version of the Old Crow Medicine Show track also landed at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving him his first and only top 20 hit on the survey.
Nine years later, it became the fourth country song to receive Diamond Certification. It joined “Cruise” by Florida Georgia Line, “Tennessee Whiskey” by Chris Stapleton, and “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus in the exclusive club.
Darius Rucker Wasn’t a Fan of “Wagon Wheel” at First
“Wagon Wheel” is the most successful song of Darius Rucker’s career. However, he wasn’t a fan of the song when he first heard it. He talked about the song in press materials from Capitol Nashville ahead of the single’s release.
“Somebody had played ‘Wagon Wheel’ for me years ago. It was one of those things that I didn’t really get,” Rucker shared. “So, I’m at my daughter’s high school talent show and I’m sitting in the audience with my family. We were watching my daughter, and the faculty band gets up, it’s just the faculty from her school, and they play ‘Wagon Wheel,’” he recalled.
“I’m sitting in the audience, and they get to the middle of the chorus, and I turned to my wife and I go, ‘I’ve got to cut this song.’ I’m serious. This all happened in three-and-a-half minutes, four minutes while they’re playing the song,” he said.
Here’s hoping he sent a thank you card to the faculty band for changing his mind.
Featured Image by Jason Kempin/Getty Images
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