Darius Rucker Speaks Out About His Arrest In Tennessee

Darius Rucker spoke out for the first time about his arrest earlier this year in Tennessee.

Rucker, 58, was arrested after he allegedly possessed multiple substances at the time of a traffic stop. The traffic stop took place in Williamson County, Tennessee, just outside of Nashville, nearly one year earlier. TMZ reported earlier this year that Rucker was pulled over at that time for expired tags in February 2023. Officers found marijuana and psilocin in the vehicle during the 2023 traffic stop. Law enforcement officials reportedly issued a warrant for Rucker’s arrest in December, and the country singer turned himself in in February 2024.

He was charged with two counts of Simple Possession / Casual Exchange and one count of Violation of Registration Law, a representative with the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department confirmed to iHeartRadio at that time. Rucker confirmed during an interview on the TODAY Show on Tuesday morning (May 28) that those charges are still pending.

“It is what it is,” he said when he appeared on the show to talk about his newly-published memoir, Life’s Too Short.

The Hootie & the Blowfish star added to PEOPLE: “I mean, I looked back at that and I was like, ‘I got stopped by a police officer and I had a little bit of pot, and I think a little bit of some mushrooms or something in the car, and he let me go.’ And a year later I got a phone call from a buddy that said, ‘I think I just saw an arrest warrant for you.’ It shocked me. …My friends who were in the police department were like, ‘Have you pissed somebody off up here? Because this is crazy that they’re doing this a year later.’ …But I think somebody wanted to make an example out of me, and they did. And I’m handling it with my lawyers, and paying the price, and we’ll move on with our lives.”

Rucker’s attorney previously said in a statement that the country artist “is fully cooperating with authorities related to misdemeanor charges.”