Darius Rucker, 57, burst onto the scene with his band Hootie & the Blowfish in the mid 1980s, and he’s since risen to global fame with his distinct musical style. The South Carolina native went on to a solo career and eventually pivoted to country music. He’s won multiple Grammy Awards, and garnered ACM and CMA Awards and nominations through the years.
Behind the scenes, he had a 20-year marriage with ex-wife Beth Leonard, with whom he welcomed two children before their split in 2020. He also welcomed a daughter with a previous girlfriend. Below, ahead of his appearance on CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen, learn everything there is to know about Darius’ three adult children.
Carolyn Rucker
Darius first became a father back in 1995, as his star with Hootie & the Blowfish was rising. Carolyn Pearl Phillips was born on April 21, 1995, to Darius and his then-girlfriend Elizabeth Ann Phillips. Darius’ first daughter is now 28 years old, and according to PEOPLE, she was named after Darius’ mother, a nurse and single mom.
In 2018, Carolyn graduated from Lynn University in Florida.
Daniella Rucker
Daniela Rose Rucker, born May 16, 2001, is Darius’ second daughter and the first of two children born to the singer and his former wife Beth, whom he married in 2000. Daniella is now 22, and this past May she graduated from New York University. Darius sometimes refers to his second child as “Dani.”
When Darius received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in December of 2023, he gushed about being a father to Daniella and her two siblings. “Carrie, Dani and Jack are my heart, they’re my soul,” he said during an emotional speech. “They’re everything to me and everything I do is for them.”
Speaking directly to them, he gushed about being their dad. “It’s just been an amazing thing to be your father,” he said. “As great as all this stuff is, it’s not as cool as being your dad, and I really mean that. I love you guys so much.”
Jack Rucker
Jack Rucker, Darius’ only son and third child, was born on October 27, 2004, and he’s now 19. He graduated from high school in 2023, and has since begun his studies as New York University. Though Darius is now officially an empty nester, he once admitted that becoming a dad had changed “everything.”
“Being a father changes everything about you,” he told TODAY Moms in 2011, admitting that his children have inspired many of his hits. “All those hits, I couldn’t have written any of those if I wasn’t a dad,” he explained.