Darius Rucker Is Lead Singer of Famous American Band Hootie & the Blowfish

Darius Rucker (born May 1, 1966 in Charleston, South Carolina) is an American musician. He is known mainly for his role as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the American rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, of which he has been a member since the band's inception in 1989.

Along with his work in Hootie & the Blowfish, Rucker has recorded two solo albums. The first, Back to Then, was released in 2002 on Hidden Beach Recordings. A second album, Learn to Live, followed in 2008 on Capitol Records Nashville. This latter album also produced his first solo chart single in "Don't Think I Don't Think About It", which was released to country radio in mid-2008 and became the first Number One country hit by a solo African American artist since 1983.

Rucker has been a member of Hootie & the Blowfish since their formation in 1989. He met fellow band members, Mark Bryan, Jim "Soni" Sonefeld, and Dean Felber, while attending the University of South Carolina. In 2001, he made his solo R&B debut album The Return of Mongo Slade for Atlantic Records. Because of contractual changes, it was never released by the label.Hidden Beach Recordings, an independent label, acquired the masters from Atlantic, releasing the album as Back to Then in July 2002.

Rucker also portrayed a singing cowboy in a television commercial for the fast food chain Burger King, promoting their TenderCrisp Bacon Cheddar Ranch sandwich in 2005. In the commercial, he sang a parody of "Big Rock Candy Mountain".In early 2008, Rucker signed to Capitol Records Nashville as the beginning of a career in country music. His first solo single, "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" (which he co-wrote with Clay Mills) debuted at #51 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts for the week of May 3, 2008. It is the first single from his second album, Learn to Live.Rucker also made his Grand Ole Opry debut in July 2008.

"Don't Think I Don't Think About It" reached Top 20 on the country charts in July 2008, making him the first African-American singer to reach Top 20 on the country charts since Charley Pride in 1988.The single reached Number One in September, making Rucker the first solo African American artist to chart a Number One country hit since Pride's "Night Games" in 1983.Well-wishers in Nashville packed ASCAP's lobby wall-to-wall Tuesday (Nov. 11) to see Darius Rucker and Clay Mills honored for their recent No. 1 song, "Don't Think I Don't Think About It."

Recorded by Rucker, the former lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish, "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" is the first country song by an African-American to go to the top since Charley Pride accomplished that feat in 1983 with "Night Games."