Guitar World Before three Grammy Awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, multi-platinum albums as lead singer and rhythm guitarist for Hootie & the Blowfish, four No. 1 country albums and 10 No. 1 country radio singles on his own, Darius Rucker was simply “Carolyn’s boy,” a self-described “little kid from South Carolina that just wanted to sing.
” Decades later, with as the title of his 2023 album, and his autobiography, , available now, Rucker describes himself the same way: “I'm still that little kid from South Carolina that just wants to sing.” He’ll be doing that again in front of audiences beginning May 30, when Hootie & the Blowfish launch their first full tour since 2019. To date, the band’s album sales total over 25 million, with their 1994 debut, – 21 times platinum – among the top ten best-selling albums of all time.
If you’re looking for , is not for you. The heart of the book is his lifelong passion for music. The details are there; nothing is hidden, including family struggles, band strife, his substance abuse, experiences with overt and systemic racism in and out of the music industry, and his personal battles with mental health.
The difference, however, is that he describes everything with finesse – at times referencing individuals by using a single initial, rather than calling them out by name. Rucker has experienced tremendous peaks and cavernous valleys over the course of an enviably successful career. Throughout, he remains gu.
