Rascal Flatts is an American country music band from Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1999, the band consists of Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background vocals).
From 2000 to 2009, the band recorded six studio albums, all of which were certified platinum or higher. Their self-titled debut Rascal Flatts was released in 2000. This was followed by Melt (2002), which garnered their first number-one single, "These Days". Feels Like Today (2004), Me and My Gang (2006), Still Feels Good (2007), and Unstoppable (2009) all topped the U.S. Billboard 200 upon release. In their second decade, they recorded five more studio albums: Nothing Like This (2010), Changed (2012), Rewind (2014), a Christmas album entitled The Greatest Gift of All (2016), and Back to Us (2017). In 2020, the trio announced that they would be disbanding after 20 years together. A planned farewell tour was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the group officially disbanded in 2021. They announced a reunion in 2024, and following a tour commemorating their 25th anniversary, released their 11th studio album, a collaborative project entitled Life Is a Highway: Refueled Duets, in 2025.
Rascal Flatts has achieved 16 number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay, and/or Canada Country charts. Their longest-running number-one was a cover of Marcus Hummon's "Bless the Broken Road". It was also named Best Country Song at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards. Their cover of Tom Cochrane's "Life Is a Highway" for the Disney/Pixar film Cars (2006) also achieved significant commercial success. The band was named Vocal Group of the Year by the Country Music Association every year from 2003 to 2008 and Top Vocal Group by the Academy of Country Music from 2003 to 2009, and won the American Music Award for Artist of the Year in 2006. They were inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2011 and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012. In 2025, Billboard ranked the group #48 on their list of the Top 100 Artists of the 21st Century.
Origin
Gary LeVox and Jay DeMarcus are second cousins from a musical family in Columbus, Ohio, and were raised there. DeMarcus moved to Nashville in 1992, earning his first record deal as part of a Christian group called East to West. In 1997, DeMarcus phoned LeVox and convinced him to come to Nashville and provide some harmonies on Michael English's album Gospel, which he was producing. They engineered the album together, and became English's backup band.
At the same time, DeMarcus had become the bandleader of Chely Wright's band, where he met Joe Don Rooney, a Picher, Oklahoma native who had recently secured a role as the guitarist in that band. DeMarcus and LeVox formed their own band and regularly performed at a Printer's Alley nightclub called the Fiddle and Steel Guitar Bar. When their part-time guitarist could not make it one night, DeMarcus invited Rooney to fill in. Jim Riley was the drummer and bandleader for the band. The three men covered the 1989 Shenandoah hit "The Church on Cumberland Road" that night. To the trio's recollection, a natural chemistry and bond were formed instantly.
Singer Mila Mason recommended the group to record producers Mark Bright and Marty Williams, who played Lyric Street Records A&R Doug Howard a three-song demo and Howard thought they were "just incredible." After he had heard the demos, the band went to the Lyric Street office the next day, sat down with acoustic guitars, and played a couple of songs. According to Howard in an interview with HitQuarters: "The vocals and harmonies, it was all there—I was just blown away. The lead singer has such a unique and compelling voice." The band was signed to Lyric Street in September 1999.
Career 2000–2005: Rascal Flatts, Melt, and Feels Like Today In February 2000, the group made its debut with the single "Prayin' for Daylight". The song had been on the three-track demo that had gotten the band signed. The song, which reached number three on Billboard Hot Country Songs, was the first single from their self-titled debut, which was issued in June 2000 on Lyric Street. Following "Prayin' for Daylight", the album's other three singles all made the top 10 on that chart with "This Everyday Love", "While You Loved Me", and "I'm Movin' On", respectively, peaking at numbers nine, seven, and four. "I'm Movin' On" was awarded Song of the Year by the Academy of Country Music in 2002. Stephen Thomas Erlewine reviewed the album with favor, calling it "a sunny, pleasing modern country-pop album".
In November 2000, the group contributed the song "Walk the Llama Llama" to the soundtrack for the Disney film The Emperor's New Groove (2000). In early 2002, they also recorded a song titled "The Glory of Life" for the Paramount war film We Were Soldiers (2002). Their sophomore album Melt was released on October 29, 2002. Unlike its predecessor, Melt was co-produced by the band. The album's first single, "These Days", became the band's first number-one hit on the U.S. country charts. The album included two more Top 10 hits with "Love You Out Loud" and "I Melt". "Mayberry", the album's fourth and final single, became the band's second number one in 2004. The music video for "I Melt" garnered controversy for its scenes that featured partial nudity, and was banned from the Great American Country network. An album cut from Melt entitled "My Worst Fear" also received a music video in 2004.
Rascal Flatts' third album, Feels Like Today, was released in September 2004. The album topped the Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums charts upon release. The album's title track was released as its first single. The second single was "Bless the Broken Road". The song was originally recorded by its co-writer, Marcus Hummon, and had also been recorded by Melodie Crittenden (whose version charted in 1998), the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Sons of the Desert. In early 2005, Rascal Flatts' version became the band's third number-one hit on the U.S. country charts and spent five weeks at that position. The third single, "Fast Cars and Freedom", hit number one, as well. While the latter was climbing the charts, some radio stations began playing a hidden track on the album, titled "Skin". This airplay caused "Skin" to enter the top 40. The song was released as a single under the title "Skin (Sarabeth)" and officially added to the album's track list, later peaking at number two on the country charts.
2005–2008: Me and My Gang and Still Feels Good
Rascal Flatts's 13th chart entry, "What Hurts the Most", was released in January 2006. This song had previously been recorded by Mark Wills in 2003. Rascal Flatts' version of that song was released as the first single from their fourth album Me and My Gang, which was released in April. For the full album, the band worked with producer Dann Huff to create a more band-oriented album. Rascal Flatts' rendition of "What Hurts the Most" was a crossover hit for the band, reaching number one on both the country and adult contemporary charts, as well as peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, spending a total of 51 weeks on the latter chart. The album's title track was released as the second single and reached number six on the country chart. The third and fourth singles, "My Wish" and "Stand", both reached number one.
In the summer of 2006, the group charted in the top 10 of the Hot 100 again with a cover of Tom Cochrane's "Life Is a Highway", which they recorded for the Disney/Pixar film Cars. Although "Life Is a Highway" was not released to country radio, many country stations began playing the song, causing it to chart within the top 20 of Hot Country Songs. Me and My Gang had the highest U.S. debut of 2006, with 722,000 units in April.Christman, Ed (October 7, 2006), "Million-Unit Question". Billboard. 118 (40):7 The album spent 15 weeks at number one on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and was the second-best selling album of 2006 (behind High School Musical), with sales totaling to about 3.5 million by year's end.Tucker, Ken (August 25, 2007), "Can Rascal Repeat?" Billboard. 119 (34):20–22 The album's success led the band to take the spot of top-selling artist for all genres of music, which had not been accomplished in 15 years by a country group.Rascal Flatts. 2008. Rascal Flatts Fans, Inc. September 21, 2008. In the summer of 2007, the band recorded a cover of the 1968 Beatles song "Revolution" for the film Evan Almighty.
Later the same year, the group released the single "Take Me There", a song which Kenny Chesney co-wrote and had initially planned to record himself. That song became a number-one country hit for the band in September and served as the first single from the album Still Feels Good. It was followed by "Winner at a Losing Game", which was the first single the band had written themselves. The single and its followup "Every Day" both reached number two on the country charts in 2008. The fourth single from the album, "Bob That Head", became the band's first single to miss the top 10 on the chart. The fifth and final single, "Here", was released in August 2008 and became the band's ninth number-one hit on the chart week of January 3, 2009.
2008–2010: Greatest Hits Volume 1 and Unstoppable
Rascal Flatts released their first compilation album, Greatest Hits Volume 1, on October 28, 2008. The album contains 13 of their biggest songs, starting with "Prayin' for Daylight" and going through "Life Is a Highway". The limited edition of the album contains a second disc with three Christmas songs: "White Christmas", "Jingle Bell Rock", and "I'll Be Home for Christmas". A year later in October 2009, they released a second edition of their greatest hits collection, this time with a second disc containing live performances of "Take Me There", "Summer Nights", "Me & My Gang", and "Winner at a Losing Game".
In January 2009, Rascal Flatts released the song "Here Comes Goodbye" as the first single from the album Unstoppable, which was released on April 7 of that year. Co-written by American Idol season-six finalist Chris Sligh, "Here Comes Goodbye" became the group's 10th number-one hit. The second single from the Unstoppable album, "Summer Nights", which was co-written by LeVox, was released in early May 2009. That song debuted at number 57 and topped out at number two on the country charts. The third single off the album, "Why", peaked at number 18 on the country charts, their poorest-charting effort to date. The title track was released as the album's fourth single in January 2010 and peaked at number seven on the country chart in June. In April 2009, the band contributed re-recordings of their songs "Bless the Broken Road" and "Backwards" for the soundtrack of Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009), in which they also appeared.
A special release version of their album Unstoppable sold at JCPenney stores nationwide featured an exclusive bonus track entitled "American Living" only available on the albums sold there. JCPenney was the official sponsor of Rascal Flatts' Unstoppable American Living Tour. On July 16, 2009, as part of the American Living Tour, Rascal Flatts made history as the first country music group to play Chicago's Wrigley Field. The trio was joined by fellow artists Vince Gill and Darius Rucker for a near-sellout crowd.
2010–2011: Label change and Nothing Like This After the closure of Lyric Street in April 2010, Rascal Flatts signed to Big Machine Records in July of that year. The group's first single from the label was "Why Wait". The song was the first single from the album Nothing Like This, which was released November 16, 2010. In December 2010, "Why Wait" became the trio's 11th number-one hit on the U.S. country charts.