2/23/2010 10:50:00 AM
Darius Rucker continues making history
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| Darius Rucker will join Rascal Flatts at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City on Thursday, Feb. 25. Get tickets. |
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By CARRIE PITZER
Entertainment Editor
Not many artists can handle — much less embrace — going from headliner to tour support.
But Darius Rucker isn’t a typical superstar, which is why he went from Hootie and the Blowfish superstar to country music superstar without missing a beat.
“I had 20 years of headlining and worrying about ticket sales and everything,” he said with a laugh in a recent interview with the Daily News. “I don’t worry about those things anymore. I love being able to go up there for my 50 minutes. Believe it or not, it’s exactly what I needed at this point in my career. There are no hassles for me. I just can play, and I love it.”
Rucker will join Rascal Flatts at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City on Thursday, Feb. 25, on The Unstoppable Tour, which is a fitting title for Rucker.
Rucker, 43, has literally been unstoppable on the charts. His platinum debut album “Learn To Live” sent the first three single straight to No. 1 with the fourth — again, appropriately titled “History in the Making” — currently in the top five and inching toward No. 1.
Just four singles into his country music career, Rucker has already been recognized by the Country Music Association with its New Artist award and was nominated for the coveted Male Vocalist Award beside heavy hitters Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, George Strait and Keith Urban.
The warm reception from fans and industry leaders alike still leaves the South Carolina native shaking his head in disbelief.
“It’s still unbelievable. I don’t think I could have scripted it this way,” Rucker said. “It was really cool at the beginning to see people put all the other stuff aside and say, ‘Let’s hear the songs.’ That was awesome. Now to be four singles in and be part of the community, it feels right.”
But real stardom comes when an artist is recognized away from their music — in a store, airport or when out to eat.
It’s been years since Rucker could walk around and not hear someone yell for Hootie, but being recognized out of blue as Darius Rucker, well, that’s new for him.
“I don’t care if they call me Hootie. For my whole career, they thought that was my name,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t want people to think I’m not proud of what I did with Hootie, but it’s cool for them to know who I am.”
While Rucker introduced himself to the world with “Learn To Live,” the second album is often the most crucial for any artist. Rucker said he’s been in the studio several times and has four songs recorded for his sophomore project.
But don’t try to tell him how much pressure comes with the follow-up. Considering the 1994 Hootie debut “Cracked Rear View” sold more than 16 million copies and is one of the best-selling albums in history, Rucker knows pressure.
He’s just not feeling it.
“The funny thing to me is that I felt a lot more pressure making the first one because I didn’t know if anyone would play it. With this second one, we feel like we just have to get great songs,” Rucker said.
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Posted: Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Article comment by:
Heather Pennington
email me as much info as possible doing a research for school thanks
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