Darius Rucker On Playing In South Africa, U.S. Tour Scheduled

07/19/2002 3:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Jerry Armor

(7/19/02, 3 p.m. ET) -- Darius Rucker spent Thursday (July 18) in Johannesburg, South Africa promoting his solo R&B debut, Back To Then, which was released last month in that country. The album, which features the lead single "Wild One," is scheduled to be issued in the U.S. July 30 on Hidden Beach Recordings.

Rucker, who previously visited South Africa with his group Hootie & the Blowfish, said he wanted to return to the country to show appreciation for the support of Back To Then. "We took the record to an international conference with Sony in Europe. They heard the record and just didn't want to wait to put it out," Rucker told LAUNCH. "That is really exciting for us that they were so excited that they didn't want to wait to when everyone else was going to put it out. With them doing that, I just wanted to get over there and play. If they're going to support me like that, I just want to do all that I can to help make it a success there too."

On July 27 Rucker will be back in the U.S., performing at the Green Valley Ranch in Las Vegas, starting a tour sponsored in part by Hennessy. The opening date will benefit the Lili Claire Foundation, which supports individuals born with Williams Syndrome, Down Syndrome, and autism.

Darius Rucker tour dates (subject to change):

July 27 - Las Vegas, NV - Green Valley Ranch

July 29 - Los Angeles, CA - Key Club

August 1 - Greensboro, NC - Carolina Theatre

August 2 - Charleston, SC - Music Farm

August 3 - Columbia, SC - Senate Park

August 3 - Fort Shaw, SC - Base Exchange

August 5 - New York, NY - BB Kings

August 17 - Andrews AFB - Base Exchange

-- Billy Johnson Jr., Los Angeles

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