Darius Rucker just released his new single – the title track of his latest record, Southern Style. He was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina and still lives there, raising his own children with his foundation of Southern values and charm.

“When you live in Charleston you don’t have to do much but raise ’em, you know what I mean? I’m trying to teach them the things that I was taught as a kid, you know. Be respectful say ‘Yes, Ma’am, ‘Yes, Sir,’ be courteous to others and in Charleston, we have this… everybody’s really nice,” says Darius. “We say ‘Hey’ to everybody all the time and stuff like that, and that’s just the kind of things I try to teach them and stuff that’s what my mom taught me growing up. And I try to let ’em be happy and healthy kids, but they’re definitely southern kids.”

He’ll be back to host the 6th annual Darius & Friends benefit at Nashville’s Wildhorse Saloon for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital on June 8th.

Darius Rucker, Keith Urban and Mickey Guyton have been added to the list of performers at Sunday night’s (April 19th) ACM Awards, along with Clint Black, Lee Brice, Brett Eldredge, Kelly Clarkson, Brantley Gilbert, Hunter Hayes, Justin Moore, Jake Owen, Thomas Rhett, Trisha Yearwood, Alabama, Dwight Yoakam and Big & Rich. Also presenting will be Modern Family’s Sophia Vergara, Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Two Broke Girls’ Beth Behrs, former Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Troy Aikman, current QB Tony Romo and tight end Jason Witten.

The 50th Annual ACM Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton, will be broadcast live from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas at 8pm ET on CBS.

Encino, CA (April 9, 2015) – The Academy of Country Music and dick clark productions announced the full lineup of country music luminaries and chart-topping artists who will perform together on “ACM Presents: Superstar Duets” and make up the evening portion of the 3^rd Annual ACM Party for a Cause Festival.  Performances at the two-day outdoor music festival celebrating the 50^th ACM Awards will begin at 7:30pm on Friday, April 17th and continue Saturday, April 18th on the Main Stage inside of Globe Life Park in Arlington, TX. A two-hour special including performances from the event will air on Friday, May 15th on the CBS Television Network.

Friday’s lineup will include special collaborations by Alabama & Eli Young Band, Brooks & Dunn & Reba, Darius Rucker & Sara Evans, Dierks Bentley & Kip Moore & Ashley Monroe, Dwight Yoakam & Sam Hunt, and Luke Bryan & Ronnie Milsap, along with a special performance by Brantley Gilbert.

Saturday’s lineup will include duet performances by Alan Jackson & Cole Swindell, Clint Black & Joe Nichols, Eric Church & Marty Stuart, Florida Georgia Line & David Lee Murphy, Hunter Hayes & Brett Eldredge, Keith Urban & John Anderson, Lady Antebellum & Brandy Clark, Miranda Lambert & Patty Loveless, and The Band Perry & Deana Carter along with special performances by Kenny Chesney and Jake Owen.

Ticket packages to the ACM Party for a Cause Festival INCLUDING the 50^th ACM Awards are available NOW at Ticketmaster.com. Tickets to the 50^TH ACM Awards sold out last spring in a record 18 minutes but as staging changes became final for the ACM Awards, seats to the previously SOLD OUT Awards show and festival are now available.
lease see a full lineup of tentatively scheduled performances below for “ACM Presents: Superstar Duets” listed by order of appearance and subject to change. For additional updates please visit www.ACMcountry.com.

 Friday, April 17, 2015 (Listed in Order of Appearance)

·         Brantley Gilbert

·         Dwight Yoakam & Sam Hunt

·         Darius Rucker & Sara Evans

·         Alabama & Eli Young Band

·         Brooks & Dunn & Reba

·         Dierks Bentley, Kip Moore & Ashley Monroe

·         Luke Bryan & Ronnie Milsap

 Saturday, April 18, 2015 (Listed in Order of Appearance)

·         Clint Black & Joe Nichols

·         The Band Perry & Deana Carter

·         Lady Antebellum & Brandy Clark

·         Hunter Hayes & Brett Eldredge

·         Jake Owen

·         Kenny Chesney

·         Alan Jackson & Cole Swindell

·         Miranda Lambert & Patty Loveless

·         Keith Urban & John Anderson

·         Eric Church & Marty Stuart

·         Florida Georgia Line & David Lee Murphy

The 3^rd Annual ACM Party for a Cause Festival, beginning at 12:00 PM on April 17-18, 2015, will include multiple stages for ongoing LIVE country music performances, interactive experiences, a family-friendly country marketplace with food trucks and vendors from around the country, and much more, all leading up to the 50^th Academy of Country Music Awards, which will be broadcast LIVE for the first time ever from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Sunday, April 19, 2015 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network. Proceeds from the event will benefit ACM Lifting Lives, the philanthropic arm of the Academy of Country Music and military philanthropies including Folds of Honor Foundation, Wounded Warrior Project, Navy SEAL Foundation, and Task Force Dagger Foundation.

ACM Presents: Superstar Duets is produced for television by dick clark productions. Allen Shapiro, Mike Mahan and R.A. Clark are executive producers.  Mark Bracco, Barry Adelman and Tom Forrest are co-executive producers. Bob Romeo is executive producer for the Academy of Country Music.

Darius Rucker’s Southern Style debuted at the top of the Country Album Chart this week. The collection, featuring his No. 1 single “Homegrown Honey,” sold nearly 52,000 copies during its first week of release to land at the top of the chart.

With this new album, Darius really wanted it to have a positive feel as the follow-up to his previous record, True Believers. ‘When I was starting to write for this record, I put [True Believers] on, and I was like, ‘Man, that’s deep.’ That was really a relationship record, ups and downs and all the bad places it can go,” says the South Carolina native. “With this record, I really wanted it to be up, ‘cause you’ve got songs like ‘Good for a Good Time’ that’s all about let’s go have a big party, and then all the sudden there’s a song saying tonight let’s not do that. Let’s just go out and hang out and sing songs and drink moonshine and sit by the water and have a great time…Where I come from in Charleston, it’s all about sitting by the water, playing some guitar, enjoying each other and just having a great time. So, I love the truly just upbeat nature of the record.”

Luke Bryan’s Spring Break…Checkin’ Out is No. 2, followed by Sam Hunt’s Montevallo at No. 3.

Darius Rucker appears on the Ellen DeGeneres Show on Tuesday (April 7th) to perform his recent No. 1 hit, “Homegrown Honey.”

Darius Rucker and Sam Hunt are expected to perform at the 11th Annual Drive for Show, Rock Fore! Dough in Evans, Georgia on Tuesday (April 7th) before the Masters. Proceeds from the show benefit The First Tee of August, which provides young people of all ethnic and economic backgrounds an opportunity to develop, through golf and character education, life-enhancing values such as honesty, integrity and sportsmanship.

George Strait released his new single, “Let It Go,” on Monday (April 6th). He wrote the song with his son, Bubba Strait, and Keith Gattis.

Lady Antebellum will perform, along with Kris Kristofferson and Jason Isbell, on Skyville Live Tuesday night (April 7th) at 8pm ET. The show will be streamed exclusively online at skyvillelive.com.

Lady Antebellum have re-launched their successful 7FOR7 campaign, in which they surprised seven different people by granting their wishes.  This time, seven lucky fans will have their mortgage paid for a year by Quicken Loans, plus they’ll win a trip to a future Lady Antebellum concert and a chance to meet the band.  You have a chance to win through August 20th.

Luke Bryan not only returns as co-host of the ACM Awards, but he will also once again captain a team to compete against Justin Moore and his group in the 2015 ACM & Cabela’s Great Outdoor Archery Tournament, taking place Saturday, April 18th at the Texas Rangers Youth Ballpark in Arlington, Texas. Dustin Lynch, Tyler Farr and Willie and Jep Robertson (Duck Dynasty) are among the members of Luke’s Team, while Justin’s Team will feature Eric Paslay, Brantley Gilbert, Chase Rice and Jamie Lynn Spears.

ENCINO, CA (April 2, 2015) – Today, ACM Lifting Lives® announced that chart-topping country music star Darius Rucker will return to host the ACM Lifting Lives Celebrity Golf Classic presented by G. Debbas Chocolatier and GoPicnic for the fourth consecutive year on Saturday, April 18, 2015 at Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas, Texas. The ACM Lifting Lives Celebrity Golf Classic, the ninth held since 2004, brings together country music artists Kix Brooks, Charles Kelley, Chris Young, Branch & Dean, and more artists to be announced as well as other members of the music community in a scramble tournament to raise funds and awareness for ACM Lifting Lives’ Diane Holcomb Emergency Relief Fund.

This fund enables ACM Lifting Lives to respond quickly to unforeseen, immediate financial needs of music related organizations and individuals. Funds are disbursed at the discretion of a select committee made up of ACM Lifting Lives Board Members. The fund’s resources cover a wide range of financial, medical and personal emergencies, and each case is treated with integrity and confidentiality. The fund was established to honor Diane Holcomb’s memory by her only daughter, Gayle Holcomb, who served four years as Chairman of the Board of the Academy of Country Music. ACM Lifting Lives has helped 45 people and given over $230,000 since its inception in 2007.

The ACM Lifting Lives Celebrity Golf Classic, ACM Charity Motorcycle Ride & Concert, ACM Lifting Lives “One Night, Two Cities, All Music” Gala presented by Mattress Firm, ACM Party for a Cause Festival, and more are all among the highly-anticipated events held during the ACM Awards week culminating with the 50^th Academy of Country Music Awards, Country Music’s Party of the Year®. The ceremony, co-hosted by Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan, will broadcast LIVE from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Sunday, April 19, 2015 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, to supporting programs that use music therapy as a means to help our veterans and wounded warriors, while providing grants to help them ease back into life. For more information, please visit www.ACMLiftingLives.org.

Eric Church, Alan Jackson, Kip Moore, Keith Urban and Lady Antebellum are a few of the latest performers announced for the 3^rd Annual ACM Party for a Cause Festival, taking place in Arlington, Texas April 17th and 18th. They’re joined by John Anderson, Deana Carter, Brandy Clark, Brett Eldredge, Sara Evans, Brantley Gilbert, Hunter Hayes, Ashley Monroe, David Lee Murphy, Joe Nichols, Jake Owen, Reba, Marty Stuart, Cole Swindell, Brooks & Dunn and The Band Perry.

Previously announced performers include Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Sam Hunt, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Patty Loveless, Ronnie Milsap, Dwight Yoakam, Alabama, Eli Young Band Clint Black and Florida Georgia Line.

The event will be taped for a two hour special, ACM Presents: Superstar Duets, which will air May 15th on the CBS. Proceeds from ticket sales for the ACM Party for a Cause Festival will benefit ACM Lifting Lives, the charitable arm of the Academy.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – (March 30, 2015) – With 20 years of hits in his discography, you’d think three-time GRAMMY winner Darius Rucker would get used to them. As “Homegrown Honey,” the first single from his new Capitol Nashville album Southern Style, hits No. 1 on the Mediabase Country songs chart this week, however, the rocker-turned-country star admits he still gets the same feeling: “Wow!”

“A lot of people may not realize this, but even with all the success we had with Hootie & The Blowfish, we never had a single go to No. 1,” Rucker said. “I had never experienced that feeling until ‘Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It,’ when it peaked at the top of the Country charts in 2008 when we were releasing Learn To Live. So to be here again – four albums and seven years later – about to celebrate the release of Southern Style and get the news that we just hit our seventh No. 1 single on Country radio charts is just insane. I say ‘we’ as this is a feat I have learned only comes from a community really embracing the music and wanting to play it for fans that want to hear it, and that just makes it all the more special to me.”

Rucker will celebrate his new hit and Tuesday’s release of Southern Style all over the map in the coming weeks. He kicks off release week Tuesday, March 31 with a visit to NBC’s “TODAY Show,” then hits “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” (April 7) and ABC’s “The Chew” (April 16) later this month.

Southern Style is already receiving critical praise. According to USA Today, “Southern Style comes close to Rucker’s ideal, with the sweet dobro intro to honky-tonk shuffle ‘Good for a Good Time’ and a title song that extols the virtues of Billy Graham, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Lil Wayne against a leisurely paced slide guitar. On ‘Baby I’m Right,’ a playful duet with Mallary Hope, the mandolin is so high in the mix it’s almost like an extra lead voice.”

Country Weekly said Rucker’s sunny personality shines throughout Southern Style, an album that “is so full of love, fun and sweet memories you practically see the smile on Darius’ lips as he sings.” Entertainment Weekly added that the album “is the work of an artist who knows his whiskey-baritoned sweet spot: In his own words, ‘I wanna get high on some low country with you.’”

The Country genre has become home for the South Carolina singer. His previous three releases debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart, he scored a GRAMMY Award for his 2013 mega-hit “Wagon Wheel” and is headed back out on the road again this summer on the Southern Style Tour, beginning May 14 in Holmdel, N.J., with Brett Eldredge, the Brothers Osborne and A Thousand Horses. He’s deeply embedded in the Music Row community. Rucker wrote “Homegrown Honey” with a couple of fellow GRAMMY winners, Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley and producer Nathan Chapman.

“Thinking back to the day Charles and I were on the golf course and he said, ‘Man, we should write together -we never have,’ and I couldn’t believe we had known each other so long and never sat down to really just write,” Rucker said. “A few weeks later we made it happen, and I remember walking out of that room and calling my management saying we had the single for my new record.”

Turns out it was a No. 1 single.

Visit www.DariusRucker.com to learn more about the Southern Style Tour or to buy tickets. Follow Rucker on Twitter at @dariusrucker.

About Darius Rucker
Capitol Nashville recording artist Darius Rucker will release his fourth country album, Southern Style, on March 31, 2015, the same week lead single “Homegrown Honey” became his seventh No. 1 hit. Rucker’s first three albums – Learn To Live, Charleston, SC 1966 and True Believers – produced six No. 1 singles, including “Come Back Song,” “This,” “Alright,” “It Won’t Be Like This For Long” and “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It.” His 2013 No. 1, “Wagon Wheel,” won a GRAMMY Award, stayed atop the charts for two weeks and was nominated for Song of the Year at the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music awards. In 2009, Rucker was named New Artist of the Year at the CMA Awards. He achieved a personal goal and childhood dream when he was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on October 16, 2012. To learn more about Darius Rucker go to www.dariusrucker.com.

Darius Rucker climbs to the top of the Mediabase country music chart with “Homegrown Honey,” the first single from his new album, Southern Style, available Tuesday (March 31st).

Darius wrote the song with Charles Kelley from Lady Antebellum and writer-producer Nathan Chapman. “The great thing about the whole song was Charles [Kelley] had this great idea to write a song about a girl in New York City who isn’t like anybody else,” he says. “What I think about ‘Homegrown Honey’ is it’s a girl from where you’re from and she’s got it going on. She’s money.”

Coming in second is Zac Brown Band’s “Homegrown,” followed by Sam Hunt’s “Take Your Time” rounding out the Top 3.

Darius Rucker returns Tuesday (March 31^st) with his fourth country album, Southern Style. It’s the follow-up to his gold-certified True Believers. It features his latest No. 1 single, “Homegrown Honey,” which he co-wrote with Charles Kelley from Lady Antebellum and producer-writer Nathan Chapman.

Darius says Southern Style (named after one of the songs on the album) is the perfect title for the album. “When I started listening back and realizing the songs we have on there, it just seemed like a lot of the songs were just about that lifestyle, that laid-back ‘let’s live life and live and let die’ as The Beatles said.  And I just thought Southern Style was a great name for the record, because all the songs are kind of pretty in that southern style, so I just thought it was a perfect name for the record.”

Catch Darius chatting about his new album this week, as he makes multiple national media appearances, including NBC’s Today Show (3/31), ESPN’s Mike & Mike, First Take and SportsCenter (3/31), CNN’s Headline News (4/1), The Dan Patrick Show (4/1), The Ellen DeGeneres Show (4/6) and ABC’s The Chew (4/16).