Darius Rucker and Wife Beth Split After 20 Years: 'Our Priority Will Always Be Our Beautiful Family'
Darius Rucker and wife Beth are ending their relationship.
On Saturday, the Hootie & the Blowfish frontman, 54, announced that the pair have decided to "consciously uncouple."
"We remain close friends and parenting partners and continue to be each other’s biggest cheerleaders. Our priority will always be our beautiful family," Rucker shared in a joint statement on Instagram. "We have so much love in our hearts for each other and will continue to encourage growth and expansion in one other."
The statement concluded, "Please be kind as we take on this journey, and we thank you for your love and support always."
They share two children: daughter Daniella, 19, and son Jack, 15. Rucker is also a father to daughter Caroline, 25, from a previous relationship.
A post shared by Darius Rucker (@dariusrucker) on Jul 11, 2020 at 2:00pm PDT
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The pair first met in 1998 while she was working for VH1 in New York and Rucker was in town for a performance, according to Wide Open Country.
In a 2010 interview with The Boot, the star recalled telling Beth that he was going to marry her shortly after their first date. "She was walking up the stairs [to her apartment], and I said, 'Well, you know that I'm going to marry you, right?' She just laughed," he said.
"Her roommate or her boyfriend was up there in their apartment, and I yelled, 'To whoever's up there in Beth Leonard's apartment, you can just leave because I just want you to know that I'm going to marry her!' " Rucker remembered.
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My oldest, @cary4life, graduated college yesterday. So proud of her!! Love my babies.
A post shared by Darius Rucker (@dariusrucker) on May 13, 2018 at 8:29am PDT
The two tied the knot in 2000.
"It takes a strong woman to be married to a musician, especially a musician who was drinking and partying as hard as I was, and I think life for us is where we are now," Rucker told The Boot at the time. "It took a long time for us to get to where we are now, and we say to each other all the time, 'I love us. I love our family. I love us.' "
Last year, they launched the Just Be You organization, a nonprofit aimed to boost children's confidence through self-compassion and self-love.
