Scotty McCreery Surprises London Crowd by Bringing Out Darius Rucker for “Wagon Wheel”, Live Debut of “Bottle Rockets”

Although Scotty McCreery wasn’t quite a year old when Hootie and the Blowfish released their debut single “Hold My Hand”, the song left its mark. Three decades later, the American Idol champ released his sixth No. 1 hit “Bottle Rockets”. Since McCreery’s song borrows from “Hold My Hand” and features the South Carolina soft rock group’s vocals, “Bottle Rockets” is also Hootie and the Blowfish’s first-ever chart-topper. During a show in London earlier this month, Scotty McCreery brought out frontman Darius Rucker for their first-ever live performance of the song.

Scotty McCreery Welcomes “Legend” Darius Rucker to the Stage

During Scotty McCreery’s C2C:Country 2 Country performance on March 13, Darius Rucker joined the North Carolina-born artist in front of a packed crowd at The O2 in London, England. The pair performed “Bottle Rockets”—off McCreery’s 2025 EP—Scooter & Friends—for the first time.

The duo also performed “Wagon Wheel”, an Old Crow Medicine Show original that Rucker transformed into a No. 1 Hot Country Songs hit in 2013. The Diamond-certified cover is also Rucker’s best solo showing on the Hot 100 to date, peaking at No. 15.

Sharing a clip of the performance to X/Twitter, McCreery wrote, “‘Wagon Wheel’ with the legend,” tagging Rucker.

"Wagon Wheel" with the legend, @dariusrucker 🤠 pic.twitter.com/HMqYwEicKm

— Scotty McCreery (@ScottyMcCreery) March 27, 2026

The London show marked the second stop on McCreery’s 2026 C2C run, following a March 6 appearance in Berlin. The “Damn Strait” crooner, 32, also stopped in Belfast, Ireland, on March 14.

[RELATED: Darius Rucker Announces Songs of Summer Tour 2026: Everything You Need to Know]

Darius Rucker Currently Lives in England

Getting Darius Rucker onstage likely wasn’t much of a logistical challenge for Scotty McCreery, as the three-time Grammy winner confirmed his move to London in February 2025.

The CMA Award-winning artist, 59, has enlisted the help of British songwriters like James Blunt, The Nocturns, and Wayne Hector for his ninth solo album, a follow-up to 2023’s highly-lauded Carolyn’s Boy.

While Rucker insisted his forthcoming album is “definitely a country record”, he hopes the change in scenery offers listeners a fresh perspective.

“Even when we’re writing about the same thing as we would in Nashville, we’re writing about it in different ways — because British people are just different,” he told Holler in August. “When you’re raised in a different culture, in a different country, you see things differently”

Featured image by John Shearer/Getty Images