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Darius Rucker fires back at racist tweet

By KATE STANTON, UPI.com
Darius Rucker. UPI/Jim Ruymen
1 of 2 | Darius Rucker. UPI/Jim Ruymen | License Photo

Darius Rucker performed "Wagon Wheel," a unfinished Bob Dylan song popularly covered by Old Crow Medicine Show in 2004, at the Grand Ole Opry last month. The 47-year-old former frontman of Hootie and the Blowfish also included the famous tune on his latest solo album, "True Believers."

Rucker just couldn't ignore one country music fan's response to his song choice over the weekend, firing back at a fan who tweeted: "Leave country to the white folk."

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"WOW. Is this 2013 or 1913," Rucker hit back.

"I'll take my grand ole Opry membership and leave your racism," the country music star said.

"Gotta go to bed this has been hilarious tonight. If any hater thinks I care what u think. I don't make music for u. So don't listen," Rucker tweeted at the end of the day.
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He also addressed the online controversy in a Tuesday interview with Rolling Stone.

"I was absolutely shocked," he said.

Sometimes people will say, 'You're not country,' and I know what that means, because they can't be talking about the music. But when somebody says to leave country music to the white folks, that is unbelievable to me . . . But that's life. That's something that I'm going to have to deal with the rest of my career, because I'm a black guy in country music and there are people who don't like that. But it's not going to make me quit.

Here's Rucker's rendition of the classic tune:

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