None of us ever forget those big “firsts” that occur in our lives. You know the ones – your first crush, your first kiss, your first car. And Darius Rucker is no exception. His first car was a yellow Volkswagen Rabbit that his mother purchased for him when he was in college…but he doesn’t have years of fond memories and adventures attached to it, like many of us might. “It lasted for six weeks,” he recalls with a laugh. “The fuel pump died…we tried to fix it…and the fuel pump was worth more than my car was worth, so we just let it die.” Believe it or not, Darius didn’t own another car until almost 10 years later…when he and the guys of Hootie and the Blowfish hit it big. “Even then, I didn’t get a car till the second year we made it, because with all my first money I paid off my student loans!”

These days, it’s safe to say that Darius is doing a little better for himself. He just won his first solo Grammy Award (for his number-one hit “Wagon Wheel”), and now he’s climbing the charts with a new single, “Miss You,” from his True Believers album.

AUDIO: Darius Rucker remembers his first car. 

Darius Rucker (first car) :27
“The thing I remember about my first car is, I was in college and my mom bought me my first car. It was like [an] 800-dollar yellow Volkswagen Rabbit, and it lasted for six weeks. The fuel pump died. And we tried hard to fix it, and the guys told me the fuel pump was worth more than my car was worth, so we just let it die. And I didn’t have another car again until I was like 27 – when Hootie [and the Blowfish] made it was the next time I got a car.”