Darius Rucker Shares His Father's Day Plans — and Jokes About Being 'Scared' to Be an Empty Nester (Exclusive)

The country star, whose kids graduated from high school and college this year, has big plans for golf, grilling and QT with his son

Darius Rucker is going straight from the road to the links for a very good reason: He's got a Father's Day golf game to play with his son.

The country star exclusively tells PEOPLE he'll be returning home to South Carolina to spend the day with his youngest, the day after playing the Barefoot City Music Fest in New Jersey on his summer tour.

"I got a show on Saturday, then I'll fly home right after to go hang out with my son," the father of three says. "My daughters live in Nashville and New York so I won't get to see them, but my son and I will go play golf."

Rucker has long made it a priority to work quality time in with his kids — Jack, 18, Daniella, 22, and Caroline, 27 — despite frequently being on the road as a touring musician.

"When phones and FaceTime came into play, it made it a lot easier," he says. "[I] just try to call every day."

"The way we tour is great," the Charleston native continued. "We only tour on the weekend, so it's three days a week and the other four days [I'm] pretty much home, so that makes it a lot easier."

Related: Darius Rucker Honored by Musicians on Call, Sam Hunt Says He Is 'Redeemed Spiritually on a Regular Basis by Songs'

When he is home, the country star goes into dad mode, frequently manning the grill to cook burgers and hot dogs.

"I grill for the family all the time, but I wouldn't say I'm good at it," he says. "For me, it's coming down and getting some pulled brisket and applying the different sauces. I'm a sauce guy, so the mustard base, tomato base, and the vinegar base, all that stuff, I love to try all of it. I'm a barbecue guy." (It's no wonder he's making the Windy City Smokeout a festival stop on his tour the weekend of July 16.)

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Last month, Daniella graduated from New York University. Jack will be following in his sister's footsteps, attending NYU later this year — making Rucker an empty nester.

"I'm scared. I hope I don't have too much fun," he jokes. "But you're just so proud of your kids and reaching those milestones. I better spend time playing a lot of golf and traveling around and probably traveling to the city that they're at so I can see them."

Related: Cory Hardrict Says His 'World Stops' for His Kids as He Celebrates Black Fatherhood (Exclusive)

And in between hitting the road and hitting the grill, Rucker squeezed in a little philanthropy, having raised more than $3.6 million in 2023 for St. Jude's Research Hospital at his 14th annual "Darius and Friends" charity event on June 5.

"I'll tell you, it was a blast. We had Jelly Roll and HARDY and Megan Moroney and Vince Gill and Jake Owen. It was just a bunch of really great artists that came out and we raised a lot of money. And anytime you can raise money for a good cause like St. Jude's, it's a positive for me," he said.

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