Darius Rucker

Lead singer of soft rock/pop band Hootie & the Blowfish.

Released his first solo record "Back to Then" on July 30th, 2002. It featured "Sometimes I Wonder", a duet with Jill Scott.

Ranked in Golf Digests "Top 100 in Music" (December 2006 issue) as tied for 15th place with Jason Scheff and Justin Timberlake , with a 6-handicap.

Album: "Learn to Live", 2008.

Daughter, Caroline (b. 1996).

Two children with his wife Beth: a daughter, Danielle (b. 2002) and a son, Jack (b. 2005).

Is a Miami Dolphins fan.

When Ruckers "Dont Think I Dont Think About It" cracked the Billboard country charts, Rucker joined Charley Pride and Ray Charles in the trinity of only African-Americans to date to conquer country music.

(February 2005) Appearing in a series of country-western themed Burger King commercials.

It seems that with other kind of music, they are looking for the next,big thing, but with country music, they might be looking for that, but,they also want to have that warm blanket that helped them through that,relationship or that singer they have always loved.

We went to church every Sunday. When I was a kid, the only time I sang,was around my family.

School was very important to me ,and music was what kept me coming back.

I live for the NFL. I watch so much of it.

I think I could take a job as an NFL scout.

No doubt about it, country is a much more family-friendly business than,pop.

I played every position, from right tackle to quarterback and everything,in between.

I love Christmas. I love the music. . . I love everything about Christmas.

The first year I started liking the Dolphins was Super Bowl VI, which,they lost to the Cowboys. I was 5. My whole family was pulling for the,Cowboys, so I rooted for the Dolphins. They lost, and I cried.

Great music will always rise to the top if you give it a chance.

Ray Charles has always been a big part of my life.

I plan to make records as long as people wanna keep listening to them.

We raised almost 2 million dollars at the last golf tournament that can,be used for minority scholarships and Junior Golf programs. The payoff,for the work we do is so much more valuable than the work we actually,do for it.

One of the great reasons to be in Nashville is, you get guys like Shane,McAnally to write songs with.

I work hard to let my wife know how much I love her. I try to do that,every day.

Golf is the greatest but most maddening sport there is.

The other guys in Hootie were into rock. I brought the country,influence.

As a kid, I was big into Al Green, Gladys Knight and the Pips, but as I,got older, I started listening to all sorts of music, including,country.

My family lives a pretty normal life.

The music I like or the football teams I like or the food I eat has,nothing to do with me being black.

I grew up in South Carolina. A lot of what I remember back in the day is,AM radio. When I was a kid, you could hear Stevie Wonder and Buck Owens,on the same station. All the walls and lines between music were taken,down for me.

I expect to make a career out of country music.

I always say, no matter what happens to me as a black man in country,music, I can handle it if Charley Pride could handle all the stuff he,went through.

I pay almost no attention to the charts.

Arnold Palmer is my favorite, just getting to know him and all of the,film on him and his game. He was the first real superstar in golf. You,had Bobby Jones and all of those guys, but Arnold Palmer was bigger,than life.

To have John Mellencamp compliment my songwriting? That was unreal.

When I was growing up, I always knew that if I ever got anything, I was,going to give back as much as I can. I learned that all you have to be,willing to do is give your time.

If you hear a song and you like it, you like it.

Hearing Radney Foster was big for me, like hearing Al Green or R. E. M.

for the first time.

I love jam bands, but I still like a three-and-a-half-minute rock song.

People looked at me as a carpetbagger coming over from pop to country.

But it helped because it got me in the room.

The worst thing for me when I go to a concert is a whole bunch of,ballads. You get bored.

I think I made records, since early on, that people wanted to listen to.

Whether you are on stage or playing golf, all it takes is one person to,throw everything off.

We went to church every Sunday. When I was a kid, the only time I sang was around my family.

Great music will always rise to the top if you give it a chance.

Romantic stuff is not something I really remember.