Hootie & the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker arrested on drug charges

Country star was arrested by Tennessee police on Thursday

Hootie & the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker has been arrested and charged with three misdemeanours.

The 57-year-old country star was arrested in Tennessee on Thursday (1 February) by authorities.

He was charged with two counts of simple possession and casual exchange of a controlled substance and one count of violation of vehicle registration.

Williamson County Sheriff’s Department has not released information on what kind of substance Rucker possessed.

He was reportedly released on a $10,500 bond.

Rucker “is fully cooperating with authorities related to the misdemeanour charges”, the singer’s attorney, Mark Puryear, said, according to NBC News.

The musician had been scheduled to perform in Nashville at the Grand Ole Opry on Friday (2 February). The venue’s website has since removed him from the lineup.

((Photo by David R. Lutman / Getty Images))

The Independent has reached out to the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office for further comment.

Rucker co-founded the rock band with schoolmates Mark Bryan, Jim “Soni” Sonefeld and Dean Felber in 1986 at The University of South Carolina.

10 years later, in 1996, Hootie & The Blowfish landed two Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal for their song “Let Her Cry”.

The four-piece band have released a total of six studio albums since their formation: Cracked Rear View (1994), Fairweather Johnson (1996), Musical Chairs (1998), Scattered, Smother and Shattered (2000), Hootie & The Blowfish (2003), Looking for Lucky (2005) and Imperfect Circle (2019).

Beginning in May 2019, they embarked on a 44-city tour with Barenaked Ladies in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the release of their debut album.