New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Showcasing the rich baritone celebrated by Billboard as "one of the most distinctive voices of country's modern era," Diamond-certified star
Darius Rucker offers a powerful take on Rihanna's Oscar-nominated "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" theme song, "Lift Me Up," with his version of the anthemic ballad available everywhere now.
Written by
Rihanna together with filmmaker Ryan Coogler, composer Ludwig Göransson and Nigerian singer Tems as a tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman, who starred in the original "Black Panther," the song plays over the end credits of the film, which is where Rucker first fell in love with its message.
"I've been a huge fan of comics since I was a kid, and I love all of the Marvel movies, so I couldn't wait to see 'Wakanda Forever' when it came out a few months ago," explains Rucker. "I was so moved by this song playing at the end of the movie and I felt inspired to try my hand at singing it. I hope y'all love this version we created as much as I do."
The release comes as Rucker puts the finishing touches on his forthcoming album, Carolyn's Boy, and follows the news earlier this week that his Riverfront Revival
Music Festival will return to Charleston this fall for its second year, with lineups for the October 7-8 event to be announced soon.
Rucker first achieved multi-Platinum status in the music industry as lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the GRAMMY Award-winning band Hootie & the Blowfish, who have sold more than 25 million albums worldwide including their
Double Diamond-certified (21x Platinum) debut Cracked Rear View, which remains among the top 10 best-selling studio albums of all time.
Since releasing his first Country album in 2008, Rucker has earned a whole new legion of fans with four No. 1 albums on the Billboard Country chart, including RIAA Platinum-certified Learn to Live and True Believers, plus 10 No. 1 singles at Country radio and 11 Gold, Platinum or multi-Platinum certified hits.
Rucker was inducted as a Grand Ole Opry member in 2012 and in 2014 he won his third career GRAMMY Award for Best Solo Country Performance with his Diamond-certified (11x Platinum) version of "Wagon Wheel," one of the top five best-selling Country songs of all time.
He co-hosted the 54th annual CMA Awards in 2020 and topped the charts at Country radio once again with "
Beers And Sunshine" in 2021. New songs "Same Beer Different Problem" and "Ol' Church Hymn" (featuring Chapel Hart) are available everywhere now as Rucker puts the finishing touches on a forthcoming album.
As a lifelong philanthropist, Rucker co-chaired the capital campaign that generated $150 million to help build the new MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital in his hometown of Charleston, S.C. and has raised over $3 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital through his annual
Darius &
Friends benefit concert and golf tournament.
Rucker has also advocated for over 200 charitable causes supporting public education and junior golf programs in South Carolina through the Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation and serves as a
National Chair for the
National Museum of African American
Music in Nashville, Tenn.
In addition, Rucker is an avid sports fan, with his NFL x
Darius Rucker Collection by Fanatics apparel line available at NFLshop.com, and he is part of the
Music City Baseball investment group working to bring an MLB team to Tennessee in addition to serving as a partner at the MGC Sports & Entertainment agency.
