Darius Rucker is the latest celebrity to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The rocker-turned-country music singer was inducted on Monday, December 4, two months after he was also inducted into the Music City Walk of Fame.
Rucker was introduced by former Universal Music Group Nashville Chairman/CEO Mike Dungan
“This is stuff you don’t even dream about when you’re from South Carolina, struggling growing up and wanting to be a singer,” Rucker said as part of his acceptance speech. “That’s all I ever wanted to be was to be a singer, but you never dream that this stuff is going to happen. I’m walking the streets the other day, and I’m seeing Marilyn Monroe, I’m seeing Charley Pride. I’m seeing Buddy Hackett.
“These are names that stuck in my mind because they were big stars,” he continued. “To be here, right here, with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, it’s the biggest thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Rucker went on to thank those who had been instrumental in both his personal and professional life, including his Hootie & the Blowfish band members, his management, his friends, his current band and more, along with his former wife, Beth, and his three children.
“The people I want to thank the most, and the people I want to really give my heart to, are those people that go out, and they buy your record,” the Grand Ole Opry member said. “They go out, and they stream your record. They pay money. They pay these outlandish fees to Ticketmaster to come see you play. They spend their hard-earned money, and they want to see you. That is what it’s all about. I want to thank everybody who comes out every year to see us play. I can’t say thank you enough. And I still can’t believe I have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.”
Ahead of his induction, Rucker spoke to Variety about the honor, and the wild and often-unplanned trajectory of his career over the last 40 years.
“Usually, you’re going record to record or tour to tour, and when this happens, you get to sit down and think about the whole thing,” Rucker said. “You think about when the band started, in a dorm at University of South Carolina, and then all the hard work, playing for seven years before you got a record deal. You think about going to Nashville and being told it was never going to work. You think about the first No. 1 [record] you ever had.
“You think about all that stuff, and you have to believe in fate, because one step to the left or one step to the right, and I’m not here talking to you,” he added. “So you just thank God everything happened the way it did.”
Rucker was also recently awarded the CMA Humanitarian of the Year Award, given to him for his numerous philanthropic efforts, including raising more than $3.6 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Photo Credit: Imagery By Oscar/HCC
