Darius Rucker is opening up about his career and his latest album, Carolyn’s Boy, which releases Oct. 6.

In an interview with Tetris Kelly for Billboard News, the nine-time Country Airplay chart-topping artist discussed how he decided on the title of the new project, which honors Rucker’s late mother.

” It was during the pandemic and we were writing the record, and I was having a bad day,” Rucker recalls. “I just said to myself, ‘At the end of the day, I’m just my mama’s boy,’ so I decided I was going to name it Carolyn’s Boy after that. She was such a big influence on me and she was so important in my life. It was time for me to do something special like that.”

Rucker also recalled some of the career moments he wishes his late mother had been there to see, including when Hootie & & The Blowfish won their first Grammys in 1995, for best new artist, as well as best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal for “Let Her Cry.”

” I wish to God she could have seen me win my first Grammy,” Rucker said, adding, “We used to watch the Grammys as a family when I was a kid, and that was a moment that really hit me. … Just thinking, ‘God, I wish my mom was here to see this.'”

On Carolyn’s Boy, which marks Rucker’s first solo project in six years, Rucker co-wrote the song “Sara” with pop singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran.

” That kid is such an amazing songwriter and such a good guy,” Rucker said of Sheeran, adding, “You’ll sing a line and he’ll sing it back, and he’s singing it differently and singing different words … but it’s just better so you just go with that. I hope I get to write with Ed again; he’s awesome.”

Rucker also spoke about country music’s moment of holding the top three spots on the Billboard Hot 100 just weeks ago, saying, “Country music is taking over. For me, I think it’s great to see. To have the top three spots in the Hot 100 and all the touring everyone is doing and doing well out there, it’s great to see. Country is not rock’s little sister anymore; country’s standing up for itself and on its own. I love being a part of it. You see a lot of great things happening in country music, from those guys doing that, and then you see all these African-American artists getting record deals and stuff like that, country seems to be moving on up.”

The Grammy winner also reflected on his own experiences as a Black artist launching a career in country music.

” It’s been awesome and crazy. When I first came to Nashville, I didn’t even think I ‘d get a record deal,” Rucker said. “Then we did and we go on a radio tour. There were people saying they didn’t think their audience would ever accept a Black country singer. We proved them all wrong and my success turned into Kane [Brown] and all those other guys getting a shot and blowing it up. I love it, I love watching it. Chapel Hart and all these great groups that are coming out right now.”

Rucker also spoke of transitioning from creating rock music to country music, saying, “It was different because the genres are so different, but country music, especially the artists, are just so welcoming. Rock ‘n’ roll and pop, a lot of times … a lot of people, they make it a competition. It seems like, for me, in country music, everybody thinks there’s room for all of us, if you’re good.”

Next year, Rucker will take his music overseas, with a slate of tour dates in the U.K. and Ireland.

Watch his full interview above.

The chart-topping film soundtrack to Rodgers & & Hammerstein ‘s The Sound of Music will be reissued on Dec. 1 in an array of new expanded, remixed and remastered formats. Among them: a lavish Super Deluxe Edition boasting over 40 previously-unreleased tracks– 11 of which are never-before-heard alternate takes from the 1965 blockbuster movie.

One of those alternate takes is an unreleased rendition of the film’s opening number “Prelude/ The Sound of Music,” by the film’s star Julie Andrews, and cast. The song is now available to stream and download (Sept. 27)– listen below.

And, for the first time, all of the Academy Award-winning film’s music– including every musical element from the movie– will be included on the Super Deluxe Edition of the album. Among those classic songs: “My Favorite Things,” “Do-Re-Mi,” “Edelweiss,” “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” and “Climb Ev’ry Mountain.”

The Sound of Music soundtrack spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1965 and was a near-constant presence in the top 10 from the spring of 1965 through the spring of 1967. It spent a staggering 109 weeks in the top 10– the most of any soundtrack in the chart’s history. In 2015, Billboard ranked The Sound of Music as the most successful soundtrack of all time on the chart.

The Super Deluxe Edition of The Sound of Music will be available as either as a four-CD/one-Blu-ray audio boxed set or as a digital download album. The Blu-Ray audio disc contains the film’s full score in hi-resolution audio, as well as a new Dolby Atmos mix of the original 16-track soundtrack released in 1965.

The boxed set features new liner notes written by film historian and preservationist Mike Matessino, who remixed and remastered the album from the original multi-track tapes.

The Super Deluxe Edition is one of multiple new iterations of The Sound of Music that Craft Recordings will release on Dec. 1. (Craft is the catalog label for Concord.) The Sound of Music will also be reintroduced in a Deluxe Edition (on two-CDs) and a three-LP vinyl collection (including a “Picnic Meadow Green”- colored vinyl pressing limited to 500 copies worldwide). A standard edition of the album will also be refreshed, where the original 16-track 1965 soundtrack will be reissued digitally in standard digital, HD digital and in a Dolby Atmos mix. (The standard digital album will also be available in multiple non-English-language editions, including Spanish, German, French and Italian).

” It’s been wonderful to collaborate across all of Concord’s divisions to help bring this historic and culturally significant reissue to light,” says Sig Sigworth, president, Craft Recordings and chief catalog officer, Concord, in a statement. “This deluxe edition has been years in the making, with Craft Recordings working in concert with Concord Publishing and Concord Theatricals (home of The Rodgers & & Hammerstein Organization). We’re delighted that The Sound of Music fans around the world, old and new, will be able to enjoy the iconic soundtrack in a brand new listening experience, more than a half century after its original release.”

Imogen Lloyd Webber, SVP at Concord Theatricals on behalf of The Rodgers & & Hammerstein Organization adds: “This reissue of The Sound of Music, lovingly– and painstakingly– curated by the team at Craft with collaboration from so many at Concord, alongside Mike Matessino, is a landmark moment in the history of the title. It is a truly fitting tribute to the last of the Rodgers & & Hammerstein musicals and one we hope fans across the world will treasure for years to come.”

For a full recap of the tracklists for each variant of the album, visit the Craft Recordings website A summary of the new iterations is below:

The Sound of Music Soundtrack 2023 Reissues:

Super Deluxe Edition (4-CD/1 Blu-Ray boxed set)
100 tracks on the CDs, 62 tracks on the Blu-Ray audio disc.

Super Deluxe Edition (Digital Download Album)
84 tracks

Deluxe Edition (2-CD)
46 tracks

Deluxe Edition (3 vinyl LPs, plus a “Picnic Meadow Green” color variant triple LP limited to 500 copies worldwide)
46 tracks

Original 1965 Release (Standard Digital [inclusive of multiple international language versions such as Spanish, German, French and Italian] & & HD Digital)
16 tracks

Original 1965 Release (Dolby Atmos)
16 tracks (all in 2023 Stereo Mixes)