Rascal Flatts was an American country music group founded in 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee. The group consisted of Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background vocals). DeMarcus is LeVox's second cousin, a brother-in-law of country music singer James Otto, and a former member of the contemporary Christian music duo East to West. LeVox and DeMarcus are both natives of Columbus, Ohio.
From 2000 to 2010, they recorded for Disney Music Group's former Lyric Street Records division. While on that label, they released six studio albums, all of which have been certified platinum or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The group's self-titled debut Rascal Flatts was released in 2000, and Melt (2002), netted 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 US Billboard 200 upon release. After Lyric Street closed in 2010, they moved to Big Machine Records. During their tenure with that label, 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 their final studio album Back to Us (2017).
Rascal Flatts released more than forty singles, sixteen of which reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay, and/or Canada Country charts. Their longest-running number-one, a cover of Marcus Hummon's "Bless the Broken Road", spent five weeks at number one on Hot Country Songs in 2005. Through 2006–07, "What Hurts the Most" was number one on both the Hot Country Songs and Adult Contemporary charts, and garnered their highest peak on the Billboard Hot 100 at number six. The band also had commercial success with a cover of Tom Cochrane's "Life Is a Highway", which they recorded for the soundtrack of the Pixar animated film Cars (2006). Rascal Flatts' music is defined by country pop influences, as well as their distinct vocal harmonies. In addition to their own music, DeMarcus has produced albums for Chicago, Jennette McCurdy, and Brooks & Dunn member Kix Brooks.
On January 7, 2020, Rascal Flatts announced that they would be disbanding following a farewell tour after twenty years together. However, this farewell tour was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the group's disbandment was officially confirmed in October 2021.
Origins
Rascal Flatts' founding was at Fiddle and Steel Guitar Bar in Nashville, Tennessee. Gary LeVox and Jay DeMarcus are second cousins from a musical family based in Columbus, Ohio, where they were raised. DeMarcus moved to Nashville in 1992, earning his first record deal as part of a Christian group called East to West; his brother-in-law, James Otto, is also a country music singer. In 1997, DeMarcus called 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, the guitarist in that band. DeMarcus and LeVox were working in a Printer's Alley nightclub, and when their part-time guitarist could not make it one night, DeMarcus invited Rooney to join them. Jim Riley was the drummer and bandleader for the band. The group covered the hit Shenandoah single "The Church on Cumberland Road" that night. To the group's recollection, a bond was 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'd heard the demos, the band went into the Lyric Street offices 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 late 1999.