Darius Rucker Was Told Audiences ‘Would Never Accept a Black Country Singer’

usmagazine.com:

Darius Rucker has won a Grammy and scored 10 No. 1 hits since going solo — but not before he was repeatedly told he’d be unable to overcome racism in country music.“To be honest with you, I didn’t think I would have much success.

And when I started doing the radio stations and stuff, I had people say to me, to my face, ‘My audience would never accept a Black country singer,’” he told ET Canada in an interview published on Thursday, August 10. “That’s something that I was like, ‘Okay, just play the record, let’s see?’ And then they did.”Rucker, who was frontman of the band Hootie and the Blowfish until his departure in 2008, quickly proved his naysayers wrong.

His first single, “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It,” debuted at No. 1 later that year, making him the first Black artist to reach number one on the Hot Country Songs charts since the legendary Charley Pride did so in 1983.“I wasn’t worried about it ’cause I just want to make records, you know?” he said. “I mean, I wasn’t sitting around going, ‘Oh my God, you know, I’m going to be the Black guy in country.’”While there was “nobody that looked like” Rucker in country music at the time, the singer confessed he “didn’t expect to be the one to break down the wall” — but he’s happy to have inspired change.“Here we are.

And I love seeing Kane [Brown] and all those guys over there [who are having] all this great success,” he said. “That’s great to see and I’m proud that I was part of that.”Other songs  among Rucker’s No.