A LEGENDARY American music star has revealed he’s an EastEnders superfan and is close pals with one of the soap’s biggest stars.
Hootie & the Blowfish frontman and country music solo star shocked Radio 2 listeners yesterday with the surprising admission.
Darius Rucker is a massive EastEnders fanCredit: Instagram/@bbcradio2
The Hootie & the Blowfish singer was in Radio 2’s Piano RoomCredit: Instagram/@bbcradio2
He dropped the bombshell during the station’s Piano Room where he performed in front of the BBC Concert Orchestra.
Host told him: “I’ve got a message from our dear friend, .
“He said you’re more than welcome, whenever you want, to go and sit in the corner of the Queen Vic and just play.”
Darius looked delighted and said: “That is one of the goals of my life!
“I don’t like , I love it!
“I don’t have to be in the show. I just want to be sitting at the bar of the Queen Vic when somebody walks by. That’s all I wanna do.
“That’s a goal. That’s a dream.”
When Vernon praised Shane, who plays Alfie Moon, Darius added: “I love him. He’s one of my best friends, man. He’s a great guy. He’s a great singer, great guy, funny.”
Listeners loved the exchange, with one writing on Instagram: “This makes me love him even more.”
Another said: “This is brilliant.”
A third shared: “How does Darius Rucker even know EastEnders exists – mind is blown.”
Grammy-award winner Darius is loving life at the moment. Last October he got engaged to his fiancée Emily Deahl, 33, after a year of dating.
Darius wrote at the time: “Thank you for showing me a level of happiness I have never known.
“The day I met you I knew I didn’t want to go another one without you. Now I don’t have to.”
The previous month singer Emily hit out at age gap trolls after the couple were pictured at a Lady Gaga concert, telling them her frontal lobe has been “fully developed for many years”.
Darius is a dad to three grown up children – daughter Carolyn, 30, with ex Elizabeth Ann Phillips, and daughter Daniella, 24 and son Jack, 20, with ex-wife Beth Leonard, who he was .
The musician first found fame as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of rock band, Hootie & The Blowfish, which he founded in 1986 with bandmates, Mark Bryan, Jim ‘Soni’ Sonefeld and Dean Felber.
They were huge in the States where their 1994 debut album Cracked Rear View has been certified 22 times platinum. It has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.
After the band went on hiatus in 2008, Darius embarked on a solo career and has released eight studio albums over his career.
His biggest solo hit to date is single, Wagon Wheel, which went straight to number one on the Billboard Country songs chart and won him a Grammy Award for Best Country Solo Performance.
He performed at The Grand Ole Opry 100 at London’s Royal Albert Hall in September, with a star-studded line-up including Michael Buble, Luke Combs and Carly Pearce.
Darius is close pals with Shane RichieCredit: BBC
Hootie & the Blowfish were huge in the 90sCredit: Getty
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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