Darius Rucker’s ‘Quintessential’ Christmas Song

Darius Rucker released a Christmas album in 2014, called Home For The Holidays. The holiday album has one song that no other country star has ever covered: "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch."

Darius told us recently,"' Mr. Grinch' I think is the quintessential song off that record. I didn't even know it had eight verses until we started cutting it, you know. But I love that song."

Rucker loved doing the holiday project. He told us, "I love Christmas records, and I think the folks that think they're too cool to make Christmas records don't realize how awesome it is every Christmas because it's brand new every Christmas. That record is coming out, and people are playing the songs, and you're driving down the road, and you hear one of your songs on the radio. It's a Christmas song, and you feel so proud of yourself."

He added, "Christmas records are the records that keep giving because every year people want to buy it again. I love it. I'm thinking about making another one. It's so much fun."

Darius's new album Carolyn's Boy features a song with Ed Sheeran. He told us that the song "Sara" is about someone he knew long ago.

Rucker explained, "Ed and I met when he came over with Taylor (Swift) the first time like fourteen years ago, and we talked about writing for a while. We just talked about it, and then finally, one day, I just said, 'Forget it, I'm just gonna come to England and write with you.'"

Darius continued, "That song for me is so special. It was his idea, and the best part of it is that there's so many love songs and there's so many breakup songs, but there is not that many friendship songs. That song I just love. It says I don't want to be anything but your friend. I want to see my friend I haven't seen in a long time. And I know she doesn't know about it (the song) at all. I haven't talked to her in fifty years or something."

Many country music stars love their sports teams, whether it be basketball, college football, or baseball. And when it comes to the NFL, let's just say that some country stars go all out for their teams of choice.

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A native of East Tennessee, Kenny Chesney is a Tennessee Vols fan when it comes to college football, but when it comes to the NFL, he's a lifelong fan of The Pittsburgh Steelers. While he has played Heinz Field (now called Acrisure Stadium) many times, he visited the Pittsburgh Steelers training camp in 2015 to watch his favorite team in action.

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Chris, who was based in Texas and played there almost exclusively before hitting it big in Nashville, is a huge Dallas Cowboys fan. He was quite happy over the weekend (1/16) when his beloved Dallas Cowboys beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to advance in the playoffs. He was so pleased he posted a video on his socials from a trip to Hawaii to cheer his team on.

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This North Carolina native loves his Panthers. He often wears Panthers gear on stage.

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Blake loves the Arizona Cardinals and even took his then-girlfriend, Gwen Stefani, to a game in 2015 when they were dating. He always posts on social media about his team, and as they say, "He bleeds Arizona red." The now-married couple went to another game of Blake's fave team in November (2022) when his Cardinals played the Los Angeles Rams.

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Darius Rucker is definitely country music's most passionate NFL football fan. He famously said that he has two seasons, "football season and waiting for football season." A lifelong Miami Dolphins fan, he often sings that National Anthem at their games and did so this past September 2021 when the Dolphins played the Buffalo Bills. When he fronted Hootie and The Blowfish, he wrote the band's biggest song, "I Only Want To Be With You," in college when he was so upset that his Dolphins were losing, he started to cry, and his mother called him a baby. Rucker also has his own line of NFL wear.