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Darius Rucker<\/strong><\/a> and girlfriend Emily Deahl<\/strong> are engaged after more than one year of dating.<\/span><\/p>\n Rucker, 59, shared the news via Instagram<\/a> on Wednesday, October 8, posting photos of himself getting down on one knee and popping the question to Deahl, 33.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThank you for showing me a level of happiness I have never known,\u201d the musician wrote in a caption. \u201cThe day I met you I knew I didn\u2019t want to go another one without you. Now I don\u2019t have to.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Rucker shared two images alongside the announcement: one of the proposal, in black-and-white, and the other in color of him smiling with his bride-to-be, who showed off a large diamond ring with a gold band.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Country Star Darius Rucker\u2019s Ups and Downs Over the Years: From \u2018Wagon Wheel\u2019 Success to Arrest<\/a><\/p>\n After Rucker revealed the engagement, a wave of well-wishes inundated the comments section of his post.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cCongrats!\u201d wrote Miranda Lambert<\/strong>, while singer Parson James<\/strong> remarked, \u201cYayyyyy. Pub drinks in London to celebrate soooon! Congrats my angel x.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Deahl, a social-media influencer, regularly references Rucker on Instagram, where she\u2019s posted videos from their date night to a Lady Gaga<\/b> concert<\/span><\/a> and referenced chatter about their significant age gap.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhen I\u2019m running from the comments and then I see them say \u2018she\u2019s gotta be in her 20s,\u2019\u201d she joked<\/span><\/a> in a September clip, adding, \u201c<\/span>My frontal lobe has been fully developed for many years but thanks guys.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Darius Rucker Worked on \u2018Forgiving\u2019 Himself Following Breakup With Estranged Wife Beth Leonard<\/a><\/p>\n Rucker was previously married to Beth Leonard<\/strong> from 2000 until their 2020 divorce.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He became famous 30 years ago as the frontman for the rock band Hootie & the Blowfish and later pursued a country music career. Last year, Rucker released his memoir, titled Life\u2019s Too Short<\/i><\/a>, which detailed his relationship with Leonard, whom he met at an event <\/span>in the late 1990s before they became friends. Eventually he asked her out on a date, and following their first night out, Rucker knew he would marry her.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBeth and I marry on December 9, 2000, on the beach in Bermuda,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIn the end, we stay married for twenty years, a testament to her in every way: to her strength, her resolve, and her commitment to our kids and to me. Sadly, we uncouple in 2020<\/span><\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The exes share daughter Daniela, 24, and son Jack, 20. Rucker is also father to daughter Carolyn, 30, from a previous relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n