Darius Rucker Takes Nasty Fall As He Faceplants Onstage, Fans Claim He Was Drunk

Darius Rucker didn’t let a little tumble stop him from rocking his hometown.

The singer took a spill while performing with Hootie & the Blowfish during the Riverfront Revival on Saturday, October 12, in Charleston, South Carolina, which marked the end of the band's massive 43-city tour. The show had the country music singer laughing off the moment in classic Darius fashion.

Not only was it a hometown hit, but the festival itself is one Darius Rucker curates every year.

In fan-captured footage, 58-year-old Rucker took a stumble mid-performance during his hometown show with Hootie & the Blowfish.

While launching into the first verse of his 2009 solo hit “Alright,” Rucker appeared to trip on an onstage monitor and faceplanted. "I'm old as f-ck," he joked, laughing it off with the crowd.

Touring keyboard player Lee Turner even pointed out the spot where Rucker fell, adding to the lighthearted moment. After finishing the song, Rucker addressed the crowd, saying, "We've been doing this all summer. I hadn’t fallen once. But I busted my a-- in my hometown."

After seeing the clip, many fans thought the country music star was intoxicated during the show, which may have played a part in his mishap. "He's loaded," one user claimed. "He never has sang the songs the way they're recorded when live but never heard him sound that bad."

"You mean drunk af. Thats not how Darius Rucker normally sings," another said.

Last month, Rucker was sentenced to 11 months and 29 days of probation after pleading no contest to a charge of simple possession of a controlled substance. The charge stemmed from a traffic stop in February 2024.

In February 2024, he was arrested on two counts of simple possession/casual exchange of a controlled substance and one count of violating Tennessee's vehicle registration law, as confirmed by the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office to People Magazine at the time.

"It sucks," the "Wagon Wheel" singer told the outlet. "Fifty-seven years, never seen inside of a police car or jail, and I get busted for that."

"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," he continued. "And I’m handling it with my lawyers, and paying the price, and we’ll move on with our lives.”

Rucker, best known as the frontman for Hootie & the Blowfish, has previously opened up about his drug use and wild party days. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, he shared, “Doing drugs and drinking every night — I’ve done that."

In a different interview with the outlet, he said, “We did a four-day [contest to see] who could stay up the longest. God, we used to do dumb stuff.”

In his memoir "Life's Too Short," Rucker opened up about his past struggles with substance abuse, admitting to experimenting with mushrooms, ecstasy, cocaine, and more.

"I’m a mess. I’m unhappy, I’m frustrated, and I’m high — on weed, mushrooms, and equal and excessive amounts of Ecstasy and cocaine," he wrote in his memoir. "Tons of that sh-t. Tons. I stay high to escape, to avoid dealing with where we are as a band and who I am as a person, a husband, a dad."

"To be honest, I get high because I like to get high. I like it. A lot. I do. And I hate coming down. Coming down, I crash, I get cloudy, and then I can get moody. Translation: I can get mean. So I stay high. It’s safer. More comfortable. I stay high to get by," he recalled.

The 58-year-old singer credits his ex-wife, Beth Leonard, for pushing him to leave that lifestyle behind. The two share children Jack, 19, and Daniella, 23, and Rucker acknowledges Beth’s influence in helping him turn his life around.

"When I quit, I quit," he said. "It was one of those things where one day I was just told that I had to quit, so I walked away from it. And it was the best thing that's ever happened to me. I say all the time that Beth saved my life when she did that."