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Darius Rucker will tell his stories of music and life on tour in his forthcoming memoir, set to release this spring.
The country superstar and Hootie & the Blowfish artist announced on Thursday morning (February 15) that his book, Life’s Too Short, will make its arrival this year. He said in a statement to PEOPLE: “If I look back at my life and try to see into my past, everything seems blurry. But then I lean in and start to hear something. Melodies. Chords. Harmonies. Lyrics.
“This book is the story of my life as told through 23 songs that took me away, soaring, starting at ground level, living in a poor but happy home, never wanting for much more, enjoying what I had, even when times got tough, because I had my escape, my refuge, my music. …I loved revisiting these memories through the lens of music, and I'm excited to share them this May with Life's Too Short.”
Rucker’s memoir will make its debut on May 28.
“Now I'm tellin' ya, even people that think they know me are gonna be really surprised about some stuff that comes out here,” Rucker added in a video posted to Instagram.
“I was pretty honest in this book, maybe a little too honest, so…You know what? It was time,” he added, per his record label. “Somebody asked me if I wanted to write a book and my kids are all adults now, and it just seems like it was a good time to write a book, and I hope people enjoy it. I hope people learn a little bit about me from it.”
The Charleston, South Carolina-born artist credits Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, R.E.M., KISS, Prince and others as some of his greatest musical influences. Rucker established Hootie & the Blowfish in the mid-80s with a few other students at the University of South Carolina, and went from performing at college bars to smash-hit singles, both with the band and as a solo artist.
Rucker’s latest full-length album — his first in six years — is Carolyn’s Boy, a 14-track project that serves as a tribute to his late mother. It made its debut in October 2023, two days after he received his star on the Music City Walk of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. Rucker teamed up with highly-respected, genre-spanning songwriters throughout the project, including Ed Sheeran, HARDY, John Osborne, Ross Copperman, Josh Osborne, Lady A’s Charles Kelley and others. Rucker previously said he “wanted to name the record Carolyn’s Boy because Mom never got to see any of my success. She died before any of this happened, so it’s just another homage to the greatest woman I’ve ever known.”
Rucker is set to reunite with his Hootie & the Blowfish bandmates on tour this year, kicking off shows on May 30 in Dallas, Texas. The band will include stops in Ohio, New York, Colorado, Arizona, Nashville, Illinois, South Carolina, Virginia and other destinations before coming to an end on September 28 in West Palm Beach, Florida, per the list of dates posted in November. See the list of tour dates below.
5/30 — Dallas, TX
5/31 — Rogers, AR
6/1 — St. Louis, MO
6/6 — Detroit, MI
6/7 — Cincinnati, OH
6/8 — Indianapolis, IN
6/13 — Gilford, NH
6/14 — Bangor, ME
6/15 — Sarasota Springs, NY
6/21 — Boston, MA
6/27 — Bethel, NY
6/28 — Hershey, PA
6/29 — Burgettstown, PA
7/10 — Denver, CO
7/11 — Salt Lake City, UT
7/13 — Phoenix, AZ
7/16 — Anaheim, CA
7/17 — Mountain View, CA
7/19 — Portland, OR
7/20 — Seattle, WA
7/26 — Birmingham, AL
7/27 — Nashville, TN
8/1 — Hartford, CT
8/2 — Holmdel, NJ
8/3 — Columbia, MD
8/8 — Somerset, WI
8/9 — Chicago, IL
8/10 — East Troy, WI
8/15 — Cleveland, OH
8/16 — Philadelphia, PA
8/17 — Bristow, VA
8/29 — Columbia, SC
9/5 — Wantagh, NY
9/6 — Syracuse, NY
9/7 — Toronto, ON
9/12 — Knoxville, TN
9/13 — Raleigh, NC
9/14 — Virginia Beach, VA
9/19 — Charlotte, NC
9/20 — Alpharetta, GA
9/26 — Tampa, FL
9/27 — Jacksonville, FL
9/8 — West Palm Beach, FL