In the late ’80s, Darius Rucker formed the soft rock band Hootie and the Blowfish with University of South Carolina classmate Mark Bryan, Jim “Soni” Sonefeld and Dean Felber. Even as the band achieved almost instant commercial success with their 1994 debut, Cracked Rear View, Rucker had his sights set elsewhere. He wanted to sing country music—specifically, the kind of country music that singer-songwriter Radney Foster made on his 1992 debut Del Rio, TX 59.
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His chance came in 2008, when the Grammy winner signed with Capitol Records Nashville and released his second solo album (and first country), Learn to Live. The lead single, “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It,” made him the solo African-American artist to reach the top of the country charts since Charley Pride, 25 years earlier. On this day in 2010, Rucker proved that he was here to stay in Nashville with his second country album, Charleston SC 1966.
The “Light Switch Record” That Inspired Charleston
Radney Foster arrived on the country music scene with 1992’s Del Rio, TX 59, named for his hometown and birth year. The album yielded four Top 40 hits, with “Nobody Wins” reaching No. 2.
For Darius Rucker, Foster’s country debut was “was one of those light switch records.” He knew in that moment that he wanted to make country music, too.
“I’ve always been a fan of country music, and when Radney came along was when I first started saying, ‘I want to sing that music some day,’” the “Wagon Wheel” singer told The Boot in an interview. “I would always tell the guys in the band, I’m going to make a country record.”
So he did. Learn to Live yielded three No. 1 singles, with a fourth, “History in the Making,” peaking at No. 3. In 2009, Rucker accepted the Best New Artist trophy from the Country Music Association.
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‘Charleston’ Proved Darius Rucker Was Here to Stay in Nashville
Learn to Live set the bar high, and Darius Rucker was feeling the heat. “Hell yes, I feel pressure,” he told Garden & Gun in 2010. “I want to make more country records, and if this one tanks, I’m done.”
He needn’t have worried. Rucker wrote Charleston SC’s lead single, “Come Back Song,” with Casey Beathard and a pre-fame Chris Stapleton. The track gave Rucker his fourth No. 1 hit on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. Its successor, “This,” achieved the same fate in April 2011.
More than a decade later, Darius Rucker remains a Nashville mainstay. He credits his success to some wisdom shared early by his idol, Radney Foster. “He gave me the best piece of advice: Just be yourself,” the trailblazing country star said.
Featured image by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images
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