SC singer Darius Rucker gets star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

When Darius Rucker’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was unveiled Monday, he said growing up in South Carolina he did not dare dream of the life he has led.

“You know, struggling, growing up, and just wanting to be a singer ... that’s all I ever wanted to be was a singer. But you never dream that this stuff is going to happen,” he said during the ceremony.

His Hootie and the Blowfish bandmates attended as did his three children, Caroline, 27; Daniella, 22; and Jack, 18.

“Carrie, Dani and Jack are my heart, they’re my soul,” Rucker said. “They’re everything to me and everything I do is for them.”

He told them it was amazing to be their dad.

“As great as all this stuff is, it’s not as cool as being your dad, and I really mean that. I love you guys so much.”

Rucker’s star is near the one honoring his mentor, Charley Pride, who died in 2020.

Kit Hoover of “Access Hollywood,” emcee for the event, called Rucker’s move to country music “gutsy,” and cited the many honors he has won as a solo country artist.

She also announced Rucker and Hootie and the Blowfish will reunite for a tour next summer. Rucker was a student at the University of South Carolina when he and friends formed Hootie and the Blowfish.

Hoover cited Rucker’s philanthropy including raising money for the Children’s Hospital in Charleston and St, Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.

Rucker is from Charleston and won a Grammy when he was with Hootie & the Blowfish. Their debut album is among the Top 10 best-selling studio albums of all time. Since leaving the band and switching to country music, Rucker has had four No. 1 albums on the Billboard Country chart.

Rucker and 30 other celebrities, including Chadwick Boseman, from movies, television, theater, radio records and sport entertainment were selected for stars by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce in June.

Boseman, who is from Anderson, died in 2020 of colon cancer at 43. Best known perhaps by his last role, T’Challa in “Black Panther,” he also portrayed Jackie Robinson in “42,” James Brown in “Get On Up,” and Thurgood Marshall in “Marshall.”