At face value, Mark Wahlberg, Radiohead and Darius Rucker have no business sharing sentence space, yet the three have each managed to forge respected careers from unlikely beginnings.

In the early '90s, Wahlberg seemed poised after his start as Marky Mark, rapper and Calvin Klein model, to be nothing more than one heckuva trivia question and not the stellar thesp from "Boogie Nights" and "The Departed." And around that, who would've thought those British guys behind the grungy Top 10 "Creep" would evolve into one of popular music's most adventurous bands?

Rucker's first impression on the masses was a doozy. As frontman and most visible member of Hootie and the Blowfish, their 1994 debut, "Cracked Rear View," sold more than 16 million units, with simple, tailormade classic rock singles "Let Her Cry," "Only Wanna Be With You" and "Time" heard anytime during the day throughout the dial. Subsequent sets such as 1996's "Fairweather Johnson" and 1998's "Musical Chairs" were ridiculously deemed failures despite sales past the million mark. By the time of their last studio effort, 2005's "Looking for Lucky," the band couldn't crack the Top 40.

Seven years ago, Rucker made his first solo foray with the blink-and-you-missed-it "Back to Then," which favored R&B over Hootie's pop ditties or the twangy efforts he is currently riding high on today. Like "Cracked" more than a dozen years ago, Rucker's emergence as a country artist with last year's full-length "Learn to Live" has skyrocketed Rucker back into the charts with a trifecta of chart-topping country hits, "Don't Think I Don't Think About It," "It Won't Be Like This For Long" and "Alright."

While skeptics may say the success of Rucker's "Live" is a case of lightning striking twice, it's easy to see Rucker finding a longtime home with the country folk. Unlike the mostly fickle pop masses, the country music world has long shown loyalty to its artists.

Even if you're not a fan of Rucker's work past and present -- we here at Tunes & Tix prefer Wahlberg as Sgt. Dean Dingham in "The Departed" in consecutive viewings or Radiohead's "Kid A" any day over "Live" -- it's hard not to root for the guy.

Opening for Rucker Dec. 4 at Star Plaza Theatre is newcomer Jason Jones, who had a country hit earlier this year with "Unlikely Angel."

Darius Rucker, Jason Jones, 8 p.m. Dec. 4, Star Plaza Theatre, I-65 at US 30, Merrillville. $30, $40. FYI: (800) 745-3000, starplazatheatre.com

On sale now

For more information, contact the venues or Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000 or ticketmaster.com. Unless otherwise indicated, all shows are all ages.  

* Jay Z, March 18, United Center

* Urge Overkill, Dec. 31, House of Blues (21 and older)

* John Mayer, April 10, United Center

* Dark Star Orchestra, Feb. 5-6, VicTheatre (18 and older)

* The Lovehammers, Feb. 12, House of Blues

* Pretty Lights, Dec. 31, VicTheatre (18 and older)

* Sister Hazel, Dec. 19, House of Blues (17 and older)

* The Musical Box, Feb. 13-14, VicTheatre

* Howie Day, Jan. 30, House of Blues

* Behemoth, Jan. 26, House of Blues

 The opinions expressed solely are those of the writer. He can be reached at T.shellberg@comcast.net