Darius Rucker (born May 13, 1966 in Charleston, South Carolina) is the lead singer of the band Hootie & The Blowfish. He met fellow band members, Mark Bryan, Soni, and Dean Felber, while attending the University of South Carolina.
Hootie and the Blowfish completed their first album and released it in 1994. It was titled, Cracked Rear View. The album became a huge hit and sold more than 14 million copies. Two years later they followed up their success with Fairweather Johnson in 1996 which became considered as a failure because it did not live up to Cracked Rear View with "only" a sale of 3 million copies. The failure status of their second CD did not hold them down and in 1998 Hootie and the Blowfish released their third and perhaps final album, Musical Chairs.
He has also completed two solo albums. In 2001 he made his solo debut album The Return of Mongo Slade for Atlantic Records. Because of contractual changes, it was never released. Rucker then signed with Hidden Beach Recordings and released Back to Then in July 2002.
In March 2005 Darius portrayed a singing cowboy in a Burger King commercial for the Tendercrisp Bacon Cheddar Ranch sandwich. While humourous in tone and currently being a target of parody on YTMNDs, the ad showcases Rucker's love of country music.
