Darius Rucker + Lady A to Release New Song Together This Summer

Darius Rucker is teaming up with Lady A (formerly Lady Antebellum) on a new song, to be released this summer, the Hootie & the Blowfish singer reveals in a recent interview.

Word of the collaboration first emerged when a Grand Ole Opry interview with Rucker — an Opry member of eight years — appeared online on June 19. In it, the musician calls the upcoming single "a lot of fun." He also admits that he's thrilled for fans to hear it.

It appears the collaboration may be a result of downtime during the novel coronavirus quarantine. When asked how he's stayed busy the past few months, the Hootie frontman talks about writing songs and getting outdoors before spilling the beans about his Lady A partnership.

Rucker say he's mostly been "doing a lot of songwriting, actually tons of writing — being around the house, doing stuff around the house that I never get time for, you know. And playing golf when the course is open.

"I have a new single coming out this summer with Lady A," he adds. "I'm really excited and can't wait for people to hear it. It's a lot of fun. "

The forthcoming song will be among the first — if not the first — to feature Lady A since the trio announced they are changing their name from Lady Antebellum. In a statement, the group said they are "regretful and embarrassed to say that [they] did not take into account the associations" the band's previous name had with slavery in the pre-Civil War American South.

The change didn't initially sit well with everyone, however: A blues singer who's performed under the moniker Lady A for more than two decades voiced her outrage at the group for altering their name to match her alias. Thankfully, a subsequent discussion between the trio and the singer seems to have at least started to calm the clash.