Darius Rucker's Journey to Self-Forgiveness after Splitting from Estranged Wife Beth Leonard
Darius Rucker's heartfelt journey of self-forgiveness after his breakup with estranged wife Beth Leonard fuels his powerful new track 'Never Been Over' Experience the raw emotions and personal growth captured in his soulful music
Darius Rucker, 57, shared in a recent interview on Apple Music’s “Today’s Country Radio With Kelleigh Bannen” that he has learned to treat himself with more kindness since his split from his estranged wife, Beth Leonard. "My 50-something self is a lot more forgiving than the mid-20-something self. You have to, because life goes on."
He continued by saying that "Your kids are still your kids, and you have a life, and you try to make the best of it. Like I always say, [Beth] is a saint, she’s an amazing human being, and she’s a great mom. And we get through life.” The exes share daughter Daniela, 22, and son Jack, 18. Rucker also has a daughter named Carolyn, 27, from a previous relationship.
Rucker and Leonard announced in July 2020 that they had parted ways after 20 years of marriage. “We remain close friends and parenting partners and continue to be each other’s biggest cheerleaders,” Rucker wrote alongside an Instagram pic of the couple at the time. “Our priority will always be our beautiful family. We have so much love in our hearts for each other and will continue to encourage growth and expansion in one other.”
Despite not yet finalizing their split, Rucker acknowledged that he has gained valuable insight from the divorce process. "I learned that there's help available for people," the South Carolina native emphasized. "The way I was brought up and where I come from, that's not always the case - and especially in the Black community, it's often looked down upon. But I found that there are many people out there willing to talk and provide assistance."
One thing that has assisted Rucker through the breakup is music, which he described as "always being like therapy" to him. In fact, he used his and Leonard's separation as inspiration for the song "Never Been Over" from his recent album, Carolyn's Boy, which was released last month.
Darius Rucker and Beth Leonard Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Darius Rucker expressed his love for the song, stating "It's just one of those songs and I love it. When we were done with it, I was like, 'Man, that was therapy right there.'" The frontman of Hootie & the Blowfish also shared that he found most of the song's writing process to be liberating. He admitted that the chorus was challenging to write, particularly the "splitting up records" lyric, questioning whether they really wanted to express it in that way.
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He sings in the chorus of the song: "But we've never been splitting up friends / Splitting up records / Putting up walls / Burning down letters / The grass is greener cause there's something better / Waiting down the line / We've never been headlights weaving / Taillights fading / So long, move on / Goodbye waiting / Never been one last long look across your shoulder / We've been a lot of things / But we've never been over."
Rucker reflected: "As we sang it more and more, that's just what you do. It was tough. But the song really helped me. It was great to write that song."
