Darius Rucker Claims He Was Told Fans Would Never Accept a ‘Black Country Singer’

Darius Rucker may have several No. 1 country hits to his name, but his early career was shrouded in doubt regarding his success as a Black musician in the largely-white country music genre. The musician, who was the lead singer of the 1990s band Hootie and the Blowfish before first signing with Capitol Nashville in 2008, revealed in a recent interview with ET Canada that he was previously told the would never be accepted as a “Black country singer.”

“To be honest with you, I didn’t think I would have much success. And when I started doing the radio stations and stuff, I had people say to me, to my face, ‘My audience would never accept a Black country singer,’” he told the outlet. “That’s something that I was like, ‘Okay, just play the record, let’s see?’ And then they did.”

Rucker proved his doubters wrong. His song “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” went to No. 1, making him the first Black artist to reach No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs charts since Charley Pride did so in 1983. Rucker noted that at the time, “there was nobody that looked like me in country music, and so I didn’t expect to be the one to break down the wall. But, you know, here we are.”

Rucker has since gone on to secure several additional No. 1 hits – including It Won’t Be Like This for Long,” “Alright,” “Come Back Song,” “This,””If I Told You,” and “For the First Time”- not counting his work with Hootie & the Blowfish, brought several awards, and is currently set to release his first solo album in six years, Carolyn’s Boy, in October. Since his early success in the genre, several more Black artists have broken into the country filed, including like Mickey Guyton, Kane Brown, and the Cowboy Troy. Rucker told ET Canada that he loves “seeing Kane [Brown] and, you know, all those guys over there [who are having] all this great success. You know, that’s great to see and I’m proud that I was part of that.”

As for what advice he’d give other artists hoping to follow his path, Rucker said his “advice is don’t be as worried as you used to be, you know, because you see all the labels now actively searching for African-American artists or Hispanic artists, artists of color. And I love it because they know that their audience only wants good music. They don’t care what color people are. And that’s important.”