‘Catch of the Day’ – Darius Rucker – “If I Told You” [AUDIO]

Today we feature an artist who was already a major star in the rock world long before he turned to his country roots. An artist who for the longest time was best known by a nickname that actually belonged to a collegiate friend and really had nothing to do with the artist at all.

In 1986. four students at the University of South Carolina, Jim Sonefeld, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber and Darius Rucker came together to form the rock band Hootie & The Blowfsh. Bryan and Rucker began performing as a duo on and around campus, eventually recruiting Sonefeld and Felber, and signed with Atlantic Records in 1994. The group has released six albums, hitting the Billboard Hot 100 top-40 six times. The group has officially been "on hiatus" since 2005.

Born and raised in Charleston, SC, where his family roots go back several generations, Darius Rucker grew up with 5 siblings, all raised by his single mother, who was a nurse at the Medical University of South Carolina. Rucker's father was a musician who played in a gospel group, and Darius would later say the only time he would see his father was before church on Sundays. At times his family wasn't able to make ends meet on his mother's income and would end up living with Darius' grandmother with as many as 22 people in one house.

With Hootie and the Blowfish on hiatus, Rucker decided to try his hand at the music that influenced as a child growing up in Charleston, country music. He signed with Capitol Records Nashville in 2008, releasing his debut country album Learn To Live later that year. Rucker made his Grand Ole Opry debut in July, and the album's lead single, "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" hit number 1 in September. This made Darius only the second African-American artist to hit the top of the Billboard Country Singles chart, and the first since Charley Pride in 1983. Proving it was not a fluke, Rucker hit #1 with the album's next two singles, "It Won't Be Like This For Long" and "Alright" both reached the top of the country chart, making him the first artist since Wynona in 1992 to have their first 3 singles hit #1. The album's fourth single, "History In The Making" would peak at #3.

Rucker has released three more album in the time since his historic debut. All four of his country albums have hit number 1 and been certified gold (or better). 6 top-20 singles have come from his 3 follow-up albums, including 3 #1's, "Come Back Song" (co-written by Rucker, Chris Stapleton and Casey Beathard), "This" and "Wagon Wheel", Rucker's only multi-platinum single. In January, Rucker announce that his fifth country album would be released sometime during 2016.

The album has not yet been named, nor had a released date announce. But today, we have the first single from this upcoming album in our spotlight. Darius Rucker and "If I Told You" is today's Catch of the Day, new music you haven't heard, but you're going to hear it again.