Darius Rucker lost his sweet and hardworking mother when he was barely out of college and before he experienced huge success with his band, Hootie & the Blowfish, in the ‘90s. However, he carries with him her qualities, her memories and even immortalized her in the emotional and true-to-life song, “So I Sang,” from his Southern Style album.

Many times following his performance of the song on stage, he is very emotional and needs to take a moment to collect himself. “It’s probably the most honest song I’ve ever been a part of writing. For me, it’s just so real. Everything, every song that’s mentioned in there is a song that affected my life in some way and every moment we talk about is something that really happened to me in my life,” says Darius. “When you get to the last verse and singing about my mom and what she meant to me and that, it’s such an emotional song for me, because it’s so real.”

His mother was a single mom and most days worked overtime to help support her children, which  and Darius attributes all of his success to her. “She worked a lot. She was a nurse, and she worked a lot. She took a lot of overtime and a lot of stuff to make sure we could live, basically,” he says. “She always supported whatever I wanted to do, whatever I wanted to listen to, wherever I wanted to go, she always had my back. Going to college and everything, she was just my biggest supporter and never let my brothers and sisters knock me down or try to tell me I can’t do this or do that. All my success comes because my mother was always in my corner.”

The Charleston, South Carolina native even gives his mom the credit for his role as a father, who puts his family first and is present every step of the way. “She was always a rock and making sure that she took care of us and that we had things we needed to survive – food and clothes and a home. Seeing that and seeing how hard she worked and all the things she did really made me the father that I am today,” he adds. “I mean, I’m so crazy and hands-on with my kids. I think it all comes from watching my mom have to struggle so much to support us. So now, I don’t want me or my wife ever have to struggle and I don’t want my kids to ever want or to wonder where I am or where their mother is. I want them to always know where we are and always be taken care of, and that all comes from my mom.”

You can catch Darius performing “So I Sang” on his Good for a Good Time Tour, which kicks off June 3rd in Tampa, Florida.