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. 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. 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.
2005–2007: Me and My Gang and Still Feels Good , August 2005 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. 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. 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. 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 in
Las Vegas, March 2008 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 Gary 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. In March 2011, Rascal Flatts was featured on a remix of
Justin Bieber's song "
That Should Be Me". The second single from
Nothing Like This was "
I Won't Let Go". That song went to number two in early 2011. Following it was the band's first collaborative release to country radio, "
Easy", which is a duet with British
pop singer
Natasha Bedingfield. "I Won't Let Go", and "Easy" peaked at numbers two and three, respectively, on the country charts. On November 8, 2011,
Hollywood Records released
The Best of Rascal Flatts Live.
2012–2013: Changed in 2012 Rascal Flatts' eighth studio album,
Changed, was released on April 3, 2012. It was produced by
Dann Huff and Rascal Flatts. The first single from that album, "
Banjo", became their 12th number-one on the country charts. The second single off the album, "
Come Wake Me Up", reached number four on the
Country Airplay chart. The third single from the album was its
title track, which peaked at number 20 on the Airplay chart. Rascal Flatts received the 2,480th star in the category of recording of the
Hollywood Walk of Fame on September 17, 2012. The star is located in front of the Sergeant Supply Store at 6664
Hollywood Boulevard. As country artists with
Oklahoma ties, they were second to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame that month after Oklahoman Vince Gill received his star the previous week. On November 19, Rascal Flatts released a DVD,
All Access & Uncovered: The Making of Changed and Beyond, inviting the public into their inner circle. The DVD project revealed a more intimate side of the trio's lives during the making of
Changed. The project made a one-night-only debut in movie theaters across the country in conjunction with the album release earlier that year, with the band celebrating with fans at the
AMC Theater in New York City's
Times Square. On November 20, the band made a guest appearance on
NBC's
The Voice to promote their new DVD. They performed "Changed" with Cody Belew and
Cassadee Pope, contestants from the show. In December 2012, Rascal Flatts and
Nashville actress
Hayden Panettiere hosted the third annual 2012
CMT Artists of the Year to honor the top country acts of the year. Rascal Flatts also hosted
The 14th Annual A Home for the Holidays with Rascal Flatts. The show earned a 4.91(million) rating. Rascal Flatts and
Journey headlined the
Super Bowl XLVII CMT Crossroads concert at the New Orleans Sugar Mill on February 2, 2013. This marked the second collaboration for Rascal Flatts and Journey. In June 2012, Rascal Flatts closed the
CMT Music Awards by inviting Journey to perform their hit "
Don't Stop Believin'" with them on stage. Rascal Flatts was nominated for International Artist of the Year and International Music Video of the Year (for "Banjo" and "Come Wake Me Up") at the 2013
CMC Music Awards.
2013–2016: Rewind and The Greatest Gift of All On April 8, 2013, Jay DeMarcus tweeted that Rascal Flatts was working on a new album The lead single, "
Rewind", was issued in January 2014 from the album
of the same name, which was released on May 13, 2014. The band admitted they were lip-syncing to a recording of "Rewind" during the Academy of Country Music Awards on April 6, 2014. In response to the controversy, Rascal Flatts communicated afterwards that LeVox had lost his voice and so they made a last-minute decision to lip-sync. "Rewind" became a top-five hit on the
Country Airplay chart in 2014.
Rewind produced three more singles with "
Payback", which peaked at 21, "
Riot", which reached 20, and "
I Like the Sound of That", which was released to country radio on September 14, 2015. The latter song, co-written by Shay Mooney of
Dan + Shay and pop musician
Meghan Trainor, reached number one on the Country Airplay chart in April 2016. That year, Rascal Flatts were selected as one of 30 artists to perform on "Forever Country", a mash-up track of "
Take Me Home, Country Roads", "
On the Road Again", and "
I Will Always Love You", which celebrates 50 years of the
CMA Awards. The band released a Christmas album entitled
The Greatest Gift of All in October 2016.
2017–2020: Back to Us, announced breakup and second greatest hits package Rascal Flatts' next single, "
Yours If You Want It", was released to country radio in early 2017. The track served as the lead single from their 10th studio album
Back to Us, which was released on May 19 of the same year. It topped the Country Airplay charts in August 2017, marking the band's 14th number one on the chart. On September 28, 2018, the band released a new single titled "
Back to Life" and embarked on their Summer Playlist tour in summer 2019. On January 7, 2020, Rascal Flatts appeared on
CBS This Morning to announce a farewell tour, the "Rascal Flatts: Life Is a Highway Tour" to celebrate their 20th anniversary. They also promised new music. On February 25, Gary LeVox posted on Instagram that the band was working on a new album. On May 1, the band released a cover of "Through the Years" as a tribute to the late
Kenny Rogers. On May 19, the group announced on social media that their farewell tour had been indefinitely postponed amid the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The band released a new single entitled "
How They Remember You" on June 19. It appears on an EP of the same name, released on July 31. On September 18, the band announced a new greatest-hits package,
Twenty Years of Rascal Flatts: The Greatest Hits, released on October 2. In November 2020, the band was forced to cancel their performance at the
54th Annual CMA Awards after an unspecified member tested positive for
COVID-19.
2021–2024: Confirmed breakup and solo projects Appearing alongside LeVox and Rooney, DeMarcus told
Access Hollywood in August 2020 regarding the resumption of the farewell tour: "I don't know what the tour's gonna look like. We don't know when it's gonna happen. But, I don't even know if it's gonna be a farewell tour." LeVox released his first solo material, a Christmas song entitled "Christmas Will Be Different This Year", on November 13, 2020 and DeMarcus released a song entitled "Music Man" on January 29, 2021, as a tribute to his late father. LeVox released a Christian single entitled "The Distance" on March 19, 2021, as part of an EP entitled
One On One released that same year. In an interview for
Billboard, LeVox revealed that Rascal Flatts would not tour at any point in 2021. On April 27, 2021, DeMarcus mentioned in an interview with
Taste of Country that the pandemic may have altered the band's plans for a farewell tour, and they may stay together and perform 10 to 15 concerts annually. In July 2021, DeMarcus and Rooney attended the
American Century Championship together. When asked if the band had broken up, Rooney said; "No, we're never going to be done. No way. For us now, we are just recalibrating things, taking some time off and waiting for things to open up the next couple of years. We have no set year yet even, but at some point, we'll get back at it." DeMarcus himself said; "Rascal Flatts is bigger than the three of us. The time will come when we pass the torch, but first, we have some unfinished business." DeMarcus and Rooney appeared at the 2021
Academy of Country Music Honors show on August 25 to receive the Cliffie Stone Icon Award on behalf of the group, though LeVox was not present. Additionally, DeMarcus and Rooney did not mention him or address his absence. In October, LeVox revealed that the band decided to break up officially, citing that Rooney had quit the band. LeVox also revealed he had not spoken to Rooney since his DUI arrest on September 10 and that the group quietly disbanded after the cancellation of their farewell tour. In 2020, DeMarcus formed a new band called Generation Radio alongside ex-
Chicago vocalist
Jason Scheff,
Journey drummer
Deen Castronovo, Chris Rodriguez and former Rascal Flatts live instrumentalist Tom Yankton. Their eponymous debut album, released on August 12, 2022, features a new rendition of Rascal Flatts' song "All Night to Get There", with DeMarcus on lead vocals. LeVox released a new single titled "Get Down Like That" on August 19, 2022, followed by a live EP entitled
LeVox Live in June 2024. In a June 2023 appearance on
Savannah Chrisley's podcast
Unlocked with Savannah, DeMarcus further elaborated on the band's breakup and the possibility of a reunion: "I would want to say never say never. But we're in such different places right now and don't really communicate on a consistent basis. There are just so many steps that would have to take place in order for us to get back to even talking about it. It's not too late, I just...I think the further we get away from it the harder it is to put it back together. For us, the thing that happened is we burnt the candle at both ends for so long. It was a never-ending cycle and it did work, but it's hard to put the machine down or put the brakes on when everything is cruising along and going full-speed ahead. For us, we should have taken a break at some point, just a year off to kind of collect ourselves, hit the reset button." On June 13, 2024, DeMarcus and Rooney performed onstage together for the first time since March 2020, performing with
Chicago-based cover band Maggie Speaks.
2024–present: Reunion and Life Is a Highway: Refueled Duets After a series of teasers and speculation, the band announced on October 1, 2024, that they would reunite to commemorate their 25th anniversary with a 21-date tour entitled the Life Is a Highway Tour. The tour commenced in February 2025. On January 20, 2025, Rascal Flatts performed together for the first time in nearly five years at the Commander in Chief Ball during the
second inauguration of Donald Trump. Four days later, they announced on social media that they were working on new music. On January 31, the group released a new single entitled "
I Dare You" featuring the American
pop rock band
Jonas Brothers. On June 6, 2025, they released their new album
Life Is a Highway: Refueled Duets. In addition to their duet with the Jonas Brothers, the album features nine reimagined recordings of their past hits with artists including
Kelly Clarkson,
Blake Shelton,
Backstreet Boys,
Jason Aldean,
Carly Pearce,
Brandon Lake,
Ashley Cooke,
Jordan Davis, and
Lzzy Hale. On March 13, 2026,
MusicRow Magazine awarded the trio in the Group/Duo of the Year category of their Country Breakout Awards, the group's first win for such an award since the
44th Academy of Country Music Awards in 2009. ==Artistry==