Darius Rucker says he considered holding back two important sections of his new memoir. The first was vivid descriptions of his partying days as frontman for Hootie & the Blowfish.
The second was the truth about his brother, Ricky.
- Rucker’s memoir, Life’s Too Short, was released on Tuesday (May 28).
- Through 21 chapters he opens up about his childhood, his career, his marriage and more.
- The “Never Been Over” singer talked to Taste of Country Nights‘ Evan Paul ahead of the memoir’s release.
Related: Darius Rucker Will Play Your Wedding, But It’ll Cost You
Chapter 3, “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” tells Ricky’s story. Rucker’s punchy sentences seem to hide a still-palpable resentment towards the oldest of his siblings. He describes a young man who had talent and wit, but lived a life of drugs, arrests and street fights.
“I had some real bad feelings towards my brother because he chose — I still say he chose — to live the life he lived,” the singer tells Taste of Country. “He had every opportunity to be successful and chose not to be it. That just, to me, is unacceptable.”
Ricky was prone to seizures, and because of this, the rest of the family often felt bad for him. The book describes classic enabling, even when family was the victim. At age 11, Rucker’s boombox went missing, and even though everyone believed Ricky stole it and sold it for drug money, they went on with life as if nothing had happened.
When Ricky spurned a recruiter for Boeing at the last minute and instead chose to continue living with his mother, sucking “the air and energy out of every room he enters,” Carolyn Rucker responded with, “He can’t help himself.”
The switch flipped for Rucker as an adult, when pain pills prescribed post-surgery went missing from his home. He more or less cut Ricky out of his life until:
“I’ve had a lot of therapy,” the singer tells TOC, insisting that he’s found a sort of peace with the relationship.
“Now, I look back, and there were moments where Ricky and I had great moments. But most of them were pretty bad. That’s life.”
Alan Eisenstock helped Rucker write Life’s Too Short. Harper-Collins is the publisher.
