Hootie & The Blowfish: Back On Track

It was more than 20 years ago when four students at the University of South Carolina formed "Hootie & the Blowfish. They spent their early days on the local club circuit in Charleston, but grew to tour and sell more than 25 million albums around the world, scooping up two Grammy in the process.

But tragedy almost struck recently when lead singer Darius Rucker had what was to be routine knee surgery.

"It got really bad," Rucker told Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith during the show's "Summer in the City" tour stop in Charleston on Friday. "I got a staph infection. I had three surgeries in about a six-day period."

"You almost died!" Smith said.

"Yeah, it was pretty bad," Rucker confirmed.

Smith pointed to some intravenous tubes Rucker was carrying, to use in a treatment after the show.

"You're getting ready to go get hooked up again as soon as we're done here!" Smith exclaimed.

"I am, I am," Rucker replied. "It's been tough, but it's been fun."

Because of Rucker's situation, some concerts on a pending nationwide summer tour had to be postponed. Shows originally booked for this month and early next have been rescheduled for September.

Now, Rucker told Smith, the tour begins Aug. 10. "It's going to be good!" he assured Smith and fans.

During the tour, the group will continue the efforts that members started in 2003 to gather school supplies for needy students.

"We started here," Rucker recalled. "At shows, we asked people to bring out school supplies. We filled up a couple of buses, because everybody here is so great. We decided to keep doing it. And now, we do it all over the country. It's pretty cool."

The group's latest release is called "Hootie & the Blowfish: Live in Charleston," and it's available on both CD and DVD.

Rucker told Smith of his love for his hometown. "We started right here in Charleston. … You know, I always used to make fun of my sisters for all ending up back in Charleston. And I wouldn't live anywhere else."