Many country stars were starstruck backstage at the Kris Kristofferson tribute show in Nashville on Wednesday night (March 16th). Actor Kevin Spacey (House of Cards, The Usual Suspects, etc.) was in attendance. Check out some of the photos below.
(Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Essential Broadcast Media)
Darius Rucker will return to host the ACM Lifting Lives® Golf Classic for the fifth consecutive year at TPC Las Vegas on Saturday, April 2nd. Presented by G. Debbas Chocolatier and Cocoa Crate, the “scramble” style golf tournament was created out of the need for a charitable event to connect fans, sponsors and donors with industry insiders and artists. Proceeds from the tournament benefit the ACM Lifting Lives’ Diane Holcomb Emergency Relief Fund, which provides immediate relief to those in need within the music industry.
Established by former Academy of Country Music and ACM Lifting Lives Board Chair Gayle Holcomb, in honor of her mother, the Diane Holcomb Emergency Relief Fund responds quickly to unforeseen, immediate financial needs of music related organizations and individuals. Since its inception in 2007, the Fund has distributed more than $400,000 and supported 60+ cases covering a wide range of financial, medical and personal emergencies, and each case is treated with integrity and confidentiality.
The ACM Lifting Lives Golf Classic and the 4th Annual ACM Party for a Cause® Festival are just two events benefitting the charities during the highly-anticipated “The Week Vegas Goes Country®,” leading up to “Country Music’s Party of the Year®.” The 51st ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS co-hosted by Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley, will be broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, April 3, 2016 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network.
About ACM Lifting Lives®
ACM Lifting Lives® is the philanthropic arm of the Academy of Country Music dedicated to improving lives through the power of music. Through partnerships with artists and strong ties in the music industry, ACM Lifting Lives develops and funds music-related therapy and education programs, and serves members of the community who face unexpected hardships through its Diane Holcomb Emergency Relief Fund. Through generous donations and the support of artists and fans, ACM Lifting Lives is able to fund everything from disaster relief and helping communities in need, to music education in schools and music camps for those with disabilities and supporting programs that use music therapy as a means to help our veterans and wounded warriors ease back into life. For more information, please visit www.ACMLiftingLives.org.
Darius Rucker (Golf) OC: …love that. :09
“First of all, I love being outside. I get outside so little, you know, really when you look at the whole thing. I just love me against the course. I love that.”
Each year on February 14th, many people exchange cards, candy, gifts or flowers with their special someone. The day of romance we call Valentine’s Day is named for a Christian martyr and dates back to the 5th century, but has origins in the Roman holiday Lupercalia.
Over 150 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine’s Day the second-most popular greeting-card-giving occasion. (This total excludes packaged kids valentines for classroom exchanges.) (Source: Hallmark research)
2.2 million marriages take place in the United States annually, which breaks down to more than 6,000 a day.
Sunday is Valentine’s Day (February 14th), and we’ve got some thoughts and feelings more about love, romance and marriage from several of your favorite country artists. Some are new and some have become our favorites over the years. Which country stars are romantic? Which ones aren’t? Which ones have a good reason to celebrate the holiday that’s all about love?
AJ (Valentine’s Day) OC: …continue to. :24
“We got a lot of history together now, and we’re happier than we’ve ever been. So, she’s still beautiful, and she’s always inspired songs. I mean, one of my early hits was a song called ‘I’d Love You All Over Again,’ I wrote for her for our 10th anniversary. I mean, there’s been a zillion songs that have pieces of our good days and bad days inspired, and they continue to.”
Billy Currington (Valentine’s Day memory) OC: …took off running. :21
“Yeah, I remember my first girlfriend. I was in first or second grade, but anyway, I remember it was Valentine’s Day and your mom going, ‘You’ve got to give your girlfriend something, and you’ve got to go give it to her.’ I’ll never forget — we got her a box of chocolates or whatever it was. I remember going down to her classroom and knocking on the door, getting her to come to the door. I remember handing it to her, and then I took off running.”
Canaan Smith (Valentine’s Day) OC: …get lucky. :25
“I bet I’m just like 99.9% of the rest of the men in the world who could really care less about that holiday. I want my wife to feel special, so I’m gonna take part in it. I’m gonna do my part to make her feel special and loved, but is it necessary? Shouldn’t we do that every day? I mean, it kinda is just another way to get a bunch of money out of us, but oh well. We’ll go see a movie or something. Maybe I’ll get lucky.”
Darius Rucker (wife) OC: …her and country music saved my life. :43
“I don’t know what it was about her. I mean, it was EVERYTHING about her. I knew, I told her I was going to marry her on our first date, [laughs] yeah. Beth’s a strong woman. It takes a strong woman to be married to a musician, especially a musician who was drinking and partying as hard as I was, and I think life for us is where we are now. It took a long time for us to get to where we are now, and we say to each other all the time, ‘I love us. I love our family. I love us.’ And I thank her every day for staying with me and being the strong woman she is, because with Hootie & the Blowfish, I could be gone for three months and then I’d come home for two days and then I’d be gone again for a month, and she put up with all that crap. You know, her and country music saved my life.”
David Nail (Valentine’s Day) OC: …line for me. :47
“Very early on when we first started dating, the fact that I was a songwriter actually worked against me, because anytime I would say anything or write a letter, it was ‘Oh, you’re a songwriter. This just comes natural.’ So, I’ve always had to really watch what I say and how I say it and try to make it sound as genuine and regular Joe as possible. So, I definitely think as a creative person I have that romantic side that most creative people do. Sometimes I can get a little carried away and head into cheesy land a little too far, so I try to keep it as regular as possible. [Valentine’s Day] pretty traditional with us. She’s a big chocolate person, so you obviously can’t go wrong there, and a nice dinner. It’s pretty straight down the line for me.”
Dierks Bentley (Valentine’s Day) 2 OC: …could before. :28
“You get married and that’s a long-term, bigger image of what love can be. Then you have a child, and your heart gets spread so thin and it’s so vulnerable, like it’s a really tough, tough feeling, and it can kill you. It can really be painful at times, and at the same time, it’s so great. But it definitely stretches your heart…and it doesn’t change anything, it just makes your heart, I think it just makes it bigger. I think you just find that you can love more than you ever thought you could before.”
Eric Church (Valentine’s) OC: …love song is. :48
“True love to me is when you love a person in spite of all their fallibilities, and for me, I have a lot of ‘em. I’m definitely at times hard to love, and that’s what’s great about Katherine and the way she loves me. She loves me in spite of those things and really for those things.
Josh Turner (Romantic) OC: …long time to come. :26
“If you ask my wife Jennifer if I was a romantic, she would definitely say, ‘Yes,’ but she knows that sometimes my hectic schedule and our busy lifestyles can kind of interfere with the romantic side of things. But we do try to make efforts towards being together and having adult conversations and taking time away from the children and doing things that husbands and wives do, so we’ll definitely try to continue that for a long time to come.”
Little Big Town (Kimberly falling in love) OC: …healed me. 1:20
Kimberly: “Well, I wasn’t planning on falling in love, at all. I didn’t want to…I wasn’t sure that I ever would. So, my husband now and I were just really good friends, and after my late husband died all my friends were calling me, all the time. Just checking up on me. He was just an old friends. We had known each other for about six years and he started calling me just like everybody else did. But, he started calling me more than everybody else did [laughs]. We had both been through similar losses, he hadn’t lost a mate but he had lost a close friend, so we kind of bonded over that. I grieved, kind of, at him a lot. He took my grief, I had a lot of grief left, and he just took it and listened and accepted it and was so understanding and let me talk about my late husband all the time. We still talk about him a lot, and he’s totally fine with it. He says that, that made me who he fell in love with and he never minds if I bring anything from the past up which is just really sweet. I was shocked, I remember when I first realized that I was having feelings. I just thought, OK, this is so weird. What is this? I haven’t felt this in a long, long, time. This is weird. But, eventually I allowed myself and it’s been the most beautiful gift of my life. It pulled me out of the deepest hole that I’ve ever been in and healed me.”
Little Big Town (Phillip – reasons fell in love) OC: …real love. :17
“I think everything that I had gone through before had prepared me to be ready to see that there was genuine love there for me, and my Rebecca. So, it was just a great time, I wouldn’t have been ready before I met her…Now it’s just been a really great journey to heal through the past and to know real love.”
Little Big Town (Jimi & Karen fell in love) OC: (Kimberly) …to be together. :48
JIMI: “We were in the band a long time before there was ever anything which is interesting. I think there was always something underlying there that we were kind of trying to ignore. And then when the opportunity came, when all of us, ended up single kind of at the same time, a very strange turn of events for the band in a lot of different ways. And those feelings, you were able to come out with them finally. It was like, we’re single. Let’s get together. And, you know, she has a beautiful heart and she’s absolutely gorgeous and I just love her dearly.”
PHILLIP: “Get a room!” [laughs]
KIMBERLY: “They’re a perfect match. They really are. They were meant to be together.”
“Hey! This is Billy Currington. Hope you have a very Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Hey, this is T.J., and I’m John, and we’re Brothers Osborne. Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Hey, what’s up guys? I’m Canaan Smith, wishing you a very Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Hey everybody! I’m Charles Kelley from Lady Antebellum. Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Hey! This is Clare Dunn, hoping you have a very Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“What’s up y’all? This is Darius Rucker, hoping you have a very Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Hey, this is David Nail, wishing you a Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Hey, it’s Dierks Bentley, hoping you have a very Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Hey! This is Eric Church, hoping you have a very Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Hi! This is Eric Paslay, hoping you have a very Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Hey, this is Gary Allan, wishing you a Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“This is George Strait, wishing you a Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Hi! It’s Jon Pardi, and I hope you have a very Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Hey! This is Josh Turner, and I want to wish you and your sweetheart a Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Hi, this is Kacey Musgraves, and I hope you have a Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone. This is Keith Urban. Make the day special for your ‘Once in a Lifetime’ love.”
“Hey y’all, it’s Kelleigh Bannen, hoping you have a very Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Hey! What’s happening, everybody? This is Kip Moore. Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Hey! We’re Little Big Town. Happy Valentine’s Day!”
“Hey y’all, it’s Luke Bryan. Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Hey y’all. It’s Luke Bryan. Happy Valentine’s Day. Make sweet love to your other.”
“Hi! This is Sam Hunt, wishing you a very Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Hi, this is Shania Twain. Happy Valentine’s Day.”
This Sunday (February 7th), millions of people around the world will be tuning in to the Super Bowl (the Big Game), including some of your favorite country artists. Some will be rooting for the Denver Broncos, while others will be pulling for the Carolina Panthers to win the Big Game. Canaan Smith, Darius Rucker, Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum, Easton Corbin and Little Big Town are definitely fans of football.
Sam Hunt will perform at the annual tailgate party preceding Sunday’s game, along with pop star Seal.
Canaan Smith (Super Bowl) OC: …It’s cool. :21
“Super Bowl’s all about pizza and commercials. You gotta sit down, you gotta drink your beer, get a little buzz. It’s pepperoni and banana peppers for me and my family. We sit down, we have a a good time, we have friends over. We have a nice TV, plenty of space. We have a good time. Usually, when it’s all said and done, we have a little dance party afterwards too. It’s cool.”
Darius Rucker (football) OC: …football season. :20
“Ever since I was five years old, I’ve loved football, and I love how physical it is. I love the chess match of the game. I love the speed of the game. I love college football, but for me watching pro football is better because the speed is so much more. For me, there’s two times a year, man — football season and waiting for football season.”
Easton Corbin (football) OC: …that’s on. :07
“That’s all that’s on the bus on the weekends. That’s it, and we’ve got three TVs on the bus, so that’s all that’s on.”
Lady A (tailgate food) OC: (Charles) …football watching. :21
HILLARY: “Honestly, chips and salsa, salsa or cheese dip or something. That’s like what I always go for. I could eat that every meal. No joke.” DAVE: “Best tailgate food is a big ole burger soaked in Dale’s sauce. That’s all you need.” HILLARY: “Or bratwurst. I forgot that. Those are good.” CHARLES: “Cold beer! A couple of little finger foods, but without cold beer, it’s not football watching.”
LBT (football story) OC: …my lip. :40
“I was the quarterback to my powder puff team. I was running the ball and I came around the corner – this was in high school – and a foreign exchange student, I think her name was Inga (KIMBERLY: “Inga.”), and I didn’t want to fumble ‘cause my brother and my dad were there, and I come from this very athletic family, so I held onto the ball. I knew I was going to go down, so I let my head hit first and I bit all the way through, but I didn’t fumble and I had a hole in my face, though. The sad thing is that it was just flag football, but I left my flags on and cleats and everything, ‘cause it looked cool, and I had blood running all down my jersey. I went to the emergency room like that, and they sewed up my lip.”
Luke Bryan (Super Bowl food) OC: …over again. :22
“Definitely Super Bowl is like the queso, the Frito Lay scoops with the Ro-tel situation. I guess it’s like, what’s the black-eyed pea stuff too? All of that, just stuff that you can sit there and have lots of sodium, and then just, it’s like Thanksgiving all over again.”
Little Big Town will perform the National Anthem and halftime show during Sunday’s NFC Championship game between the Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals at Bank of America Stadium. Little Big Town, who will hit the road with Luke Bryan on the Kill the Lights Tour, are making their way up the country charts with “Pain Killer,” the title cut of their latest album.
Little Big Town will perform during this year’s Grammy Awards. The group is nominated for Best Country Album for Pain Killer, as well as Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “Girl Crush,” which is also up for Best Country Song and overall Song of the Year. The Grammys will air February 15th at 8pm ET on CBS.
Eric Church, Dierks Bentley, Lady Antebellum and Darius Rucker are among the artists slated to perform at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena March 16th to honor Kris Kristofferson. The show will be filmed for a special, The Life & Songs of Kris Kristofferson, which will be distributed worldwide. Grammy-winning producer and musician Don Was will serve as music director for the event. Willie Nelson, Trisha Yearwood and many more will also perform. Tickets go on sale Saturday (January 23rd).
Sam Hunt and Chris Stapleton will perform at Bonnaroo this year, along with Pearl Jam, Ellie Goulding, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Death Cab for Cuite, Jason Isbell and Grace Potter. The 15th anniversary of the event will take place June 9th – 12th with tickets going on sale Friday (January 22nd).
Sam Hunt and Lady Antebellum are scheduled to perform during the second annual Windy City Lake Shake festival in Chicago, June 17th – 19th. Tim McGraw, Jason Aldean, Brooks & Dunn and Thomas Rhett are also set to perform.
As you probably know by now, Darius Rucker is a HUGE football fan – college and NFL. He cheers loudest for his South Carolina Gamecocks and the Miami Dolphins. The man is the commissioner of a handful of fantasy football leagues, and his “man cave” at the house in Charleston, South Carolina is full of televisions playing nothing but football. So, we know he’s a professional when it comes to picking the winners of this weekend’s games.
“I think the Panthers are gonna win. That home field advantage is huge, and I just think their defense is playing so well right now. I think it’s gonna be a high scoring game, but I think the Panthers are gonna do enough to outlast the Cardinals…the other game is a lot harder. I think, it’s hard to go against Tom Brady. It’s hard to go against Bill Belichick,” says Darius. “I think Belichick’s one of the two greatest coaches in NFL history, and Brady’s probably one of the four best quarterbacks to ever play…and so to go against them is hard, but I love Peyton, and Denver’s got like an all-time great defense. There’s no place on their defense that is not great. Like I said, it’s hard to go against Brady and Belichick, so I’m gonna go with the Patriots. I think it’s gonna be Patriots-Panthers for the championship.”
Darius just announced his Good For a Good Time Tour, which will kick off June 3rd in Tampa, Florida. They go on sale January 29th.
Darius Rucker (NFL playoffs 2016) OC: …the championship. :55
“I think the Panthers are gonna win. That home field advantage is huge, and I just think their defense is playing so well right now. I think it’s gonna be a high scoring game, but I think the Panthers are gonna do enough to outlast the Cardinals…the other game is a lot harder. I think, it’s hard to go against Tom Brady. It’s hard to go against Bill Belichick. Those are two people I have so much respect for. I hate, because you know I’m a Dolphin fan, and I hate ‘em both, but I’ve got so much respect for ‘em. I think Belichick’s one of the two greatest coaches in NFL history, and Brady’s probably one of the four best quarterbacks to ever play…and so to go against them is hard, but I love Peyton, and Denver’s got like an all-time great defense. There’s no place on their defense that is not great. Like I said, it’s hard to go against Brady and Belichick, so I’m gonna go with the Patriots. I think it’s gonna be Patriots-Panthers for the championship.”
Three-time GRAMMY Award winner Darius Rucker will kick off his 2016 Good for a Good Time Tour in Tampa, Florida on June 3rd. The trek will feature opening acts Dan + Shay, who are celebrating their first No. 1 single with “Nothin’ Like You” and rising country singer Michael Ray, who was the only new male country artist of 2015 to have a No. 1 single in 2015, with “Kiss You in the Morning.” Over 30 stops across the country have been announced so far with more to come! Fans can purchase tickets beginning January 29th for select cities as part of Live Nation’s Country Megaticket at www.Megaticket.com.
“When you do tours, the opening act is so important, because you want to put guys in the seats and you also want to entertain your friends, the people who want to see you,” says Darius. “And for me, also, one of the prerequisites is I gotta have guys I can hang out with, and go sit down and have dinner with and maybe play a round of golf with, drink a beer with after the show, before the show. So, those guys fit that, all that, perfectly.”
More than 400,000 fans turned out to experience Rucker’s incomparable vocals and raucous good time during last year’s Southern Style Tour, so expectations are high for 2016.
Rucker plans to once again provide his concerts as a platform to honor and present homes to our nation’s combat wounded heroes and Gold Star spouses, in conjunction with Project Rebuild. Rucker, along with Lieutenant General Sisco, CEO and founder of Military Warriors Support Foundation, presented the first house in an appearance on NBC’s Today and went on to present 13 more homes in 2015. The Project Rebuild campaign arose from a partnership between Dr Pepper Snapple Group and Military Warriors Support Foundation to assist in rebuilding the lives of our wounded veterans. Project Rebuild helps place wounded veterans in mortgage-free homes and help ease the transition back to civilian life.
The Good for a Good Time Tour will also partner with the rideshare app Uber for select dates, giving fans the chance to win free rides as well as VIP packages. A few lucky riders in cities across the United States will win VIP packages for a Good for a Good Time Tour stop which include 2 tickets to the show, an exclusive Darius Rucker pre-show acoustic performance, and invitation to a pre-show party in the VIP Party Lounge. Fans can enter the promo code GOODTIME to enter to win, and first time users will also receive $20 off their first ride.
The Good For a Good Time Tour Dates:
Friday, June 3 | Tampa, Fla. | MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre
Saturday, June 4 | West Palm Beach, Fla. | Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre
Thursday, June 16 | Tuscaloosa, Ala. | Amphitheatre
Friday, June 17 | Dallas, Texas | Gexa Energy Pavilion
Saturday, June 18 | Austin, Texas | Austin 360 Amphitheater
Friday, June 24 | St. Louis, Mo. | Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Saturday, June 25 | Noblesville, Ind. | Klipsch Music Center
Sunday, June 26 | Pittsburgh, Pa. | First Niagara Pavilion
Thursday, July 7 | Englewood, Colo. | Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
Friday, July 8 | Albuquerque, N.M. | Isleta Amphitheatre
Saturday, July 9 | Phoenix, Ariz. | Ak-Chin Pavilion
Friday, July 15 | Mountain View, Calif. | Shoreline Amphitheatre
Saturday, July 16 | Irvine, Calif. | Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre
Friday, July 22 | Holmdel, N.J. | PNC Bank Arts Center
Saturday, July 23 | Hartford, Conn. | XFINITY Theatre
Sunday, July 24 | Wantaugh, N.Y. | Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre
Friday, July 29 | Bangor, Maine | Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion
Saturday, July 30 | Mansfield, Mass. | Xfinity Center
Sunday, July 31 | Darien Center, N.Y. | Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
Friday, Aug. 12 | Bristow, Va. | Jiffy Lube Live
Saturday, Aug. 13 | Camden, N.J. | BB&T Pavilion
Sunday, Aug. 14 | Bethel Woods, N.Y. | Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
Thursday, Aug. 18 | Cincinnati, Ohio | Riverbend Music Center
Friday, Aug. 19 | Mt. Pleasant, Mich. | Soaring Eagle
Saturday, Aug. 20 | Chicago, Ill. | Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Thursday, Aug. 25 | Detroit, Mich. | DTE Energy Music Theatre
Friday, Aug. 26 | Cleveland, Ohio | Blossom Music Center
Saturday, Aug. 27 | Charlotte, N.C. | PNC Music Pavilion
Saturday, Sept. 3 | Gilford, N.H. | Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion
Sunday, Sept. 4 | Gilford, N.H. | Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion
Friday, Sept. 9 | Virginia Beach, Va. | Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheatre at Virginia Beach
Saturday, Sept. 10 | Raleigh, N.C. | Walnut Creek Amphitheatre
Sunday, Sept. 11 | Alpharetta, Ga. | Verizon Wireless
For more information about Rucker and to buy tickets, visit www.DariusRucker.com and follow @DariusRuckeron Twitter.
Darius Rucker (Good for a Good Time Tour) OC: …different and big. :34
“When you do tours, the opening act is so important, because you want to put guys in the seats and you also want to entertain your friends, the people who want to see you. And for me, also, one of the prerequisites is I gotta have guys I can hang out with, and go sit down and have dinner with and maybe play a round of golf with, drink a beer with after the show, before the show. So, those guys fit that, all that, perfectly. They’re all doing so well. Dan & Shay just had a No. 1, and Michael Ray is just racing up the charts and doing so well. So, I love having them help me, but I also love helping them to just get on that stage and doing something different and big.”
“Hey! This is TJ, and I’m John, and we are Brothers Osborne. Happy New Year.”
“Hey, what’s up guys? I’m Canaan Smith, wishing you a Happy New Year.”
“Hey! I’m Clare Dunn, wishing you a Happy New Year.”
“Hey y’all! What’s up? This is Darius Rucker, wishing you a Happy New Year!
“This is David Nail, wishing you a Happy New Year’s Day.”
“Hey, it’s Dierks Bentley. Happy New Year!”
“Hey everybody! I’m Easton Corbin, wishing you a Happy New Year!”
“Hey! It’s Eric Church, hoping you have a Happy New Year.”
“10-9-8-7—6-54321, Happy New Year, y’all. It’s Eric Church, and it’s time to put a drink in MY hand!”
“Hi! I’m Eric Paslay, wishing you a Happy New Year!”
“Hey everybody! I’m Gary Allan. Happy New Year!”
“Hi! I’m Jon Pardi, wishing you a Happy New Year!”
“Hey! I’m Josh Turner. Happy New Year!”
“Hey! It’s Kacey Musgraves, hoping you have a safe and Happy New Year!”
“Hey everyone! This is Keith Urban. Have a safe and happy New Year.”
“Hey there! It’s Kelleigh Bannen, wishing you a very Happy New Year.”
“It’s Kip Moore, wishing you a Happy New Year.”
“This is Lauren Alaina, wishing you a Happy New Year.”
“Hey! We’re Little Big Town. Happy New Year!”
“Hey! This is Luke Bryan, hoping you have a Happy New Year.”
“Hey! This is Mickey Guyton, wishing you a Happy New Year.”
“Hey everybody! I’m Sam Hunt. Happy New Year!”
“Hi! This is Shania Twain. Happy New Year!”
Darius Rucker, who released his Christmas album Home for the Holidays last year, loves to take it easy during the holidays after being on the road all year long. One way he winds down with his family is to watch Christmas movies…however, he can’t pick just one favorite.
“That’s such a hard question, favorite Christmas movie, because there are so many great movies that I can think of just off the top of my head that are great Christmas movies,” says Darius. “But it would be a tie between Miracle on 34th Street, which is still just great acting, great movie. I just love it. I love watching it. I watch it probably four times every Christmas and cry at the end every time. And I love Elf. I just think Elf is one of the absolute great stories and just funniest movies I’ve ever seen, and it just happens to be a Christmas movie. It’s one of my favorite movies.”
The South Carolina native always looks forward to Christmas, not just because he gets a little downtime with his family after being on the road so much, but because he truly enjoys the holiday and all the magic that goes along with it.
He and his family – includes his wife and three children have a routine they pretty much stick to on the big day. “Christmas at the Rucker house is pretty laid-back,” says Darius. “Our kids wake up early – real early – and open their gifts and we hang out, have breakfast, go to church, come home and PLAY, play with toys and hang out and see family who comes by, and we go to see family. It’s just a pretty normal, fun Christmas Day.” Sounds like a great time! But if you happen to receive a gift from Darius, just know he wasn’t the one doing the wrapping! “I buy it and go, ‘Honey, wrap this!’ I don’t wrap, and it definitely doesn’t look like Dillards’ [wrapping],” he admits. “It would be frumpy is what it would be. [laughs]”
Darius Rucker (favorite Christmas movies) OC: …favorite movies. :32
“That’s such a hard question, favorite Christmas movie, because there are so many great movies that I can think of just off the top of my head that are great Christmas movies. But it would be a tie between Miracle on 34th Street, which is still just great acting, great movie. I just love it. I love watching it. I watch it probably four times every Christmas and cry at the end every time. And I love Elf. I just think Elf is one of the absolute great stories and just funniest movies I’ve ever seen and it just happens to be a Christmas movie. It’s one of my favorite movies.”
Darius Rucker (favorite Christmas song) OC: …listen to. :09
“Oh, ‘The Christmas Song,’ no doubt about it. There’s a reason it’s called, ‘The Christmas Song.’ That’s my favorite Christmas song to sing and my favorite Christmas song to listen to.”
Darius Rucker (Christmas) OC: …feels special. :35
“Christmas is really that time where, that’s another thing with family. You get together, and the celebration of the birth of Christ is one of those things that I never take for granted. We always try to make it special. Because Christmas come just ones a year and it’s a holy, great holiday and we try to make is special for the family. I don’t want anything for Christmas. I bought all my stuff all year, if I see it and I want it, I buy it so Christmas is that time where I really go out of my way to make sure everybody else feels special.”
Darius (Christmas at the Rucker Household) OC: …Christmas Day. :19
“Christmas at the Rucker house is pretty laid-back. Our kids wake up early – real early – and open their gifts and we hang out, have breakfast, go to church, come home and PLAY, play with toys and hang out and see family who comes by, and we go to see family. It’s just a pretty normal, fun Christmas Day.”
Darius Rucker (wrapping gifts) OC: … would be. [laughs]” :12
“I buy it and go, ‘Honey, wrap this!’ I don’t wrap, and it definitely doesn’t look like Dillards’ [wrapping]. It would be frumpy is what it would be. [laughs]”
Darius Rucker (Christmas dish) OC: …sweet potato pie. :17
“I’m a big food guy, as you can tell by looking at me up here. I like food a lot. But my favorite thing is my sister’s sweet potato pie. I love sweet potato pie so much, and I don’t get it very often. And my sisters always make sure I get a couple during Thanksgiving and Christmas, so that’s my favorite thing – sweet potato pie.”