Darius Rucker Pays Tribute To His ‘Biggest Supporter’

Darius Rucker will release his first solo album in six years, Carolyn's Boy, on Friday (10/6). We talked with Darius a few weeks back, and he told us about new album, which is named for his late mother.

"It's probably the most personal I've ever written. So many things have been going on in the world and in my life in the past six years that I just kept writing songs about what was going on. And once I decided to name it Carolyn's Boy, the personal songs seemed to rise to the top of the heap. And so, (this is a) pretty personal record, but, you know, I love that. I love telling the truth."

Rucker discussed his mother, who was a nurse, who died in 1992. "She was my biggest supporter. She was always in my corner, you know, back when I was a real young kid trying to get in the rock and roll and country and being told that wasn't the music I was supposed to be listening to; she was my biggest supporter; 'Let him listen to what he wants to listen to.' I remember when I told her I was dropping out of college to play in Hootie, and I thought she was going to kill me. I really thought she was going to kill me. And she didn't. She said, 'If that's what you need to do…' She always believed that I was going to make it probably a lot more than I did."

He added, "It was funny because I was in the studio, and the only way I can explain it is I was just having a bad day, a bad mental health day. And I sat down at one point; I just said to myself that really, at the end of the day, I'm just my Mama's boy, and that was the day that's when I decided to name it Carolyn's Boy. And that was an epiphany for me, and that helped a lot."

1. Beers And Sunshine (Darius Rucker, JT Harding, Josh Osborne, Ross Copperman)
2. In This Together (Darius Rucker, Derek George, Bobby Hamrick, Joy Williams)
3. Never Been Over (Darius Rucker, Lee Thomas Miller, John Osborne)
4. Fires Don't Start Themselves (Ben Hayslip, Jacob Rice, Dan Isbell)
5. Ol' Church Hymn feat. Chapel Hart (Darius Rucker, Greylan James, Ben Hayslip, Josh Miller)
6. 7 Days (Darius Rucker, Ross Copperman, Ashley Gorley, Charles Kelley)
7. Same Beer Different Problem (Darius Rucker, Topher Brown, Sarah Buxton, Brad Tursi)
8. Sara (Darius Rucker, Joel Crouse, Kyle Rife, Ed Sheeran)
9. Have A Good Time (Darius Rucker, Monty Criswell, Derek George, Bobby Hamrick)
10. Sure Would Have Loved Her (Darius Rucker, Wyatt Durrette, Levi Lowrey)
11. Southern Comfort (Chris LaCorte, Matt Rogers, Josh Osborne)
12. 3 am in Carolina (Darius Rucker, Ross Copperman, Michael Hardy)
13. Lift Me Up (Temilade Openiyi, Robyn Fenty, Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Goransson)
14. Stargazing (Darius Rucker, Brinley Addington, Jess Cayne, Matt Morrisey)

As we celebrate Carrie Underwood's upcoming 15th Anniversary as a member of Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, we look at twelve country music stars who have embraced all things Grand Ole Opry since their careers began and are now members of the Opry.

The Opry member list is not one that all country superstars are on. A handful of country stars never really caught on to the Opry tradition for whatever reason, including superstars like George Strait, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, and Kane Brown.

Let's focus on the stars who love and cherish the history and tradition of The Grand Ole Opry.