Darius Rucker’s Country Grammy

For Darius Rucker, it’s been a long road from pop star to country star.  Sunday night in LA, he achieved another milestone as he won his first Grammy as a solo country star.  He’d won a pair of Grammy awards almost 20 years ago as lead singer of Hootie & The Blowfish.  But this win was very special.  Backstage, he said, “Oh I’m over the moon.  I started this country thing a few years ago just because I wanted to do it, and now I’m standing here with a Grammy for doing a classic song.  I didn’t expect it.  When you’re in a category with Blake & Miranda, you expect them to win everything.  To be standing here is unbelievable.   I don’t think it sunk in yet.”

Darius won Best Country Solo Performance for the #1 hit “Wagon Wheel.”  The song was written by Bob Dylan and Ketch Secor of the Old Crow Medicine Show.  After the win, Darius told the media backstage about his transition from pop star to country star: “Up until I started country music, I wrote all my songs by myself.  Now you collaborate on almost every song with other guys.  Nashville is such a big family and a big community.  It was hard work.  I had to pull the ‘Loretta Lynn’ and visit over 110 radio stations when I first started, but everything’s been worth it, it’s been fun, and I just got a damned Grammy!”

Darius was actually en route to the awards show when his category was called, so he was unable to make an acceptance speech.  Instead, he tweeted it: ‘I’m humbled and honored. Thank you to Bob Dylan, Ketch Secor, Old Crow Medicine Show, everyone at UMG and Country radio!’

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