Wave Wire Services
HOLLYWOOD — A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was unveiled Dec. 4 honoring Darius Rucker for his career as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of rock band Hootie & the Blowfish and country singer.
Rucker said he was humbled by the honor, and he gave thanks to fans who have supported him.
“Those people who go out and they buy your record or they go out and they stream your record, or they pay money, they pay these outlandish fees from Ticketmaster to come see you play, and they spend their hard-earned money and they want to see you, that is what it’s all about,” he said.
The star at 7065 Hollywood Blvd., between La Brea and Sycamore avenues, 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 Rucker’s late mentor and pioneering country singer Charley Pride.
Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim “Soni” Sonefeld formed the band Hootie & the Blowfish 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 bestselling 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, Virginia, 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 from May 30 through Sept. 28, including a July 16 concert at Honda Center in Anaheim.
