Hootie & the Blowfish’s Darius Rucker Responds to Drug-Related Arrest

Darius has always been candid about his past substance abuse with mushrooms, ecstasy, cocaine and more, he revealed in his upcoming memoir Life’s Too Short. And he credited his ex-wife Beth Leonard—with whom he shares kids Jack, 19, and Daniella, 23—for encouraging him to quit.

“When I quit, I quit,” he explained. “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.”

The “Let Her Cry” singer is grateful that he and the rest of the band—Mark Bryan, Dean Felber and Jim Sonefeld—have changed their lives for the better.

“We sit around and we talk,” Darius, who is also dad to Caroline, 28, with ex Elizabeth Ann Phillips, noted. “We’re happy all four of us are still together and can do this because one of us could not be here real easy.”