Darius Rucker can sing. There is no denying that, but if I told you that the frontman for the wildly successful 90s band Hootie and the Blowfish had to come to country music to get his first #1, would that surprise you? It sure did surprise me!

Hootie and the Blowfish had six top 40 hits and one of what many would say, including this gal, one of the best albums ever with 1994's Cracked Rear View, but no #1 songs.

Darius was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina by his mother Carolyn and his roots were in gospel and southern sounds. He went solo in the early 2000s in R&B to little success. Then in 2008 his first single and album- "Don't Think I Don't Think About" from Learn to Live brought him to the country format. The song went number 1 making it his first #1 and making Darius the first solo, African-American artist to chart a number one country hit since Charley Pride's "Night Games" in 1993. The album gave Darius two more #1s for a total of three!

In 2009, Darius became the first Black American to win the New Artist Award from the Country Music Association, and the second Black person to win any award from the association at that time.

He followed Learn to Live with 5 more albums, a holiday album, more number 1s and a bunch of top hits.

There was never a sense of Darius walking into country and expecting anything because he was from Hootie and the Blowfish. In fact, he did not want to be called Hootie. He wanted to earn this, he worked for it by visiting country radio and it showed. He fit into this format seamlessly and the listerers loved it and still love his music. Darius belongs in country music.

New music from Darius is expected this year!

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