Hootie & The Blowfish singer Darius Rucker has thanked his bandmates during a Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, describing the honour as “the biggest thing that has ever happened to me”.
The three-time Grammy winner was honoured on Monday in the category of recording after achieving success with the debut album by Hootie & The Blowfish in 1994, before becoming a country singing star, releasing his first album in 2008.
Rucker thanked Mark Bryan, Dean Felber and Jim “Soni” Sonefeld who formed the band during their time as students at the University of South Carolina, and are set to return to the road with their Summer Camp With Trucks Tour next year.
“We’ve been together 16 years,” he said.
“I’ve been in two bands in my life, Hootie & The Blowfish and my country band – I want to thank those guys.”
Speaking about his Hollywood Walk of Fame star, the 57-year-old continued: “This is stuff you don’t even dream about when you’re from South Carolina struggling growing up, I just wanted to be a singer… all I ever wanted to be was a singer but you never dream this stuff is going to happen.
“I was walking the streets the other day and I’m seeing Marilyn Monroe and Charley Pride… these are names that have stuck in my mind because they are big stars and to be right here with the stars. I said it is the biggest thing that has ever happened to me.”
Rucker took time to thank his three children Caroline, Daniella and Jack.
“They’re my heart, my soul, and everything I do, I do it for them,” he said.
“It’s been an amazing thing to be your father. As great as all this stuff is, it’s not as cool as being your dad and I really mean that.”
He also thanked fans who pay “outlandish fees from Ticketmaster” to watch him play live, adding: “They spend their hard-earned money to come and see you.
“I still can’t believe I have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.”