Country Star Darius Rucker to Headline Musikfest 2015 on Aug. 14
Three-time GRAMMY-winner first act announced for festival; tickets go on sale starting Jan. 20

GRAMMY-winning, chart-topping country singer Darius Rucker will bring his dynamic blend of country hits and Hootie & the Blowfish classics to Musikfest when he headlines the festival Aug. 14, 7 p.m. The performance, which will also feature country singer and former The Voice winner Cassadee Pope, will take place at the Sands Steel Stage at PNC Plaza. Tickets are $49-$59 and are on sale at www.musikfest.org and 610-332-3378.

Over the past six years, Darius Rucker has released three chart-topping country albums, as well a successful holiday album featuring original songs and Christmas classics. His 2013 release, True Believers, featured the No. 1 smash “Wagon Wheel,” which went on to earn Rucker a GRAMMY in the category of “Best Country Solo Performance.”  Among his other well-known hits are “Come Back Song,” “This,” “Alright,” “It Won’t Be Like This For Long” and “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It.”

This past fall, Rucker also released his first Christmas album, Home for the Holidays, featuring the original tunes “Candy Cane Christmas” and “What God Wants For Christmas,” as well as classics such as “Winter Wonderland,” “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” the latter featuring Sheryl Crow. Rucker’s most recent country single is “Homegrown Honey,” the Top 20 hit released last summer.

A native of South Carolina, Rucker first rose to fame as the lead singer for the multi-platinum-selling, GRAMMY-winning Hootie & the Blowfish. The group’s debut, 1994’s Cracked Rear View, sold more than 16 million copies in the U.S. alone and featured the hits “Hold My Hand,” “Let Her Cry” and “Only Wanna Be With You.” Over the past two decades, the band has sold more than 25 million records around the world.

This summer’s Musikfest performance will mark Rucker’s second appearance at the festival as a solo artist. He also headlined the festival in 2013, performing a sold-out show at the Sands Steel Stage on Aug. 9. Opening his 2015 Musikfest concert will be Cassadee Pope, who in December 2012 was named the winner of third season of The Voice. A native of Florida, Pope released her debut album, Frame by Frame, in fall 2013 and had a Top 10 country hit with the song “Wasting All These Tears.”

The Darius Rucker concert is sponsored by Edwards Business Systems, along with media partners Cat Country 96 and The Morning Call.  One of the largest music festivals in the nation, Musikfest features more than 500 performances on 14 stages throughout Bethlehem over 10 days. Dates for the 32^nd edition of the festival are Aug. 7-16, 2015. For more information, visit www.musikfest.org or follow the festival at facebook.com/Musikfest and twitter.com/Musikfest.