Backstage Country

LISTEN LIVE

Darius Rucker: ‘I Got Stopped ‘Cause I Was A Black Guy’

Darius Rucker talked to The Today Show‘s Harry Smith and told him that he recalls being told during radio station visits that his music wouldn’t be played because he’s Black….

Darius Rucker: 'I Got Stopped 'Cause I Was A Black Guy'
Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Darius Rucker talked to The Today Show's Harry Smith and told him that he recalls being told during radio station visits that his music wouldn't be played because he's Black.

He said, "Really, you get to the point where you go, 'That's just how it is.' But I can't live like that anymore ..."

Rucker also said that he's been stopped by police. "Of course, when they recognize me, everything's cool. I know I wasn't speeding. I got stopped 'cause I was a black guy in an expensive car."

He also talked about his children Daniella, Carline and Jack, saying, "Watching them go through this ... They're just at that age now when they have to look at it, especially my son. My son's the youngest, and he's about to start driving."

Rucker adds alluding to the frequent deaths of black men and women, "I don't want that for my boy. I don't want that for my daughters. I don't want that for anybody."

Darius did say that the recent protests and calls for change that have been taking place in the United States in recent weeks "feels different, " adding "and I hope I'm right."

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.