Darius Rucker, Hootie Members Receive ‘Monument’-al Honor

Darius Rucker and his Hootie and the Blowfish bandmates are receiving a special monument where the band got their start nearly 25 years ago in South Carolina's capital city.

The monument will be a steel and black granite statue, expected to be about 20-feet long, 10-feet wide and at least 12 feet tall. The unveiling of the monument will take place October 21 in Columbia's Five Points neighborhood, blocks from the University of South Carolina.

"It makes me feel great," Darius tells The Boot of the honor. "We started out there and played a lot of shows there. Those were a lot of fun nights. We were there for almost 12 years. For them to put up a monument and to be acknowledging the success that we've had and all the things we've done for the community in South Carolina is awesome. When you think about it, we started our band so we could get drunk and meet girls. We didn't think we were going to actually get a record deal some day and do the things we did and get a chance to do all the charitable things we did. I feel blessed, and now for somebody to be acknowledging us, saying 'job well done,' that's awesome."

Darius is gearing up to release his sophomore country album, 'Charleston SC, 1966,' on October 12. The first single from the album is 'Come Back Song,' which entered into Billboard's Top 10 country singles chart last week.