Hootie & the Blowfish
A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was unveiled recently honoring Darius Rucker for his career as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of rock band Hootie & the Blowfish and country singer.
Rucker spoke at the Dec. 4 ceremony at 7065 Hollywood Blvd., between La Brea and Sycamore avenues.
The star is the 2,766th since the completion of the Walk of Fame in 1961 with the initial 1,558 stars. It is near the star of his late mentor and pioneering country singer Charley Pride.
Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim “Soni” Sonefeld formed the band in 1986 when they were students at the University of South Carolina. The band has sold more than 25 million albums worldwide since its 1994 debut “Cracked Rear View,” which sold 10.2 million copies in the United States and remains among the top 10 best selling studio albums of all time.
The group won Grammys in 1996 for best new artist–beating out Brandy, Alanis Morissette, Joan Osborne and Shania Twain–and for best pop performance by a duo or group with vocals for “Let Her Cry.” The victories came for the only nominations the group has received.
Rucker has one Grammy nomination as a solo performer, winning in 2014 for best country solo performance for “Wagon Wheel,” joining Pride as the only African-Americans to be both nominated for and win a vocal performance Grammy in a country music category.
The song co-written by Bob Dylan and Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show describing a hitchhiking journey from New England through Roanoke, Va is the most popular in Rucker’s career, selling more than 10 million copies, one of the five best-selling country songs of all time.
Rucker topped the country charts again in 2021 with “Beers and Sunshine.” Hootie & the Blowfish plan a 44-stop “Summer Camp with Trucks” tour next year from May 30 through Sept. 28, including a July 16 concert at Honda Center.
