Rascal Flatts History

Rascal Flatts feature Gary LeVox (born July 10, 1970), Jay DeMarcus (born April 26, 1971) and Joe Don Rooney (born Sept. 13, 1975). A native of Columbus, Ohio, DeMarcus moved to Nashville in 1992 to find work as a musician. In 1997, he convinced his second cousin LeVox, also of Columbus, to come to Nashville to pursue a career as a singer.

Jay met Joe Don when both landed jobs in Chely Wright's band. Joe Don had grown up in tiny Picher, Oklahoma, gleaning influences from his brothers and sisters, whose tastes ran the gamut of musical styles. As he and Jay worked in Wright's band, Jay and Gary were working in a Printer's Alley club with a part-time guitarist. When he couldn't make it one night, Jay invited Joe Don to sit in. A few bars into the first song they sang, they knew they had something special. They recorded some demos, which caught the favorable attention of Lyric Street Senior VP of A&R Doug Howard.

With their first album out, they hit the road hard, gaining thousands of new fans and opening for the likes of Alan Jackson, Jo Dee Messina, and Toby Keith. Their star rose dramatically from the outset and reached dizzying heights with the release of "I'm Movin' On."

Beginning in early 2000, they sent three glossy, pop-flavored songs into the Top 10: "Prayin' for Daylight," "This Everyday Love" and "While You Loved Me." Though held in contempt by traditionalists, the trio sold more than 500,000 albums. A late-blooming fourth single, "I'm Movin' On," reached a more mature audience, propelling their self-titled debut album to platinum status and spawning an inspirational book of the same name.

The milestones kept coming. They played the Grand Ole Opry, appeared on the soundtrack of We Were Soldiers, and recorded "Walk The Llama Llama," a song penned by Sting for The Emperor's New Groove soundtrack. Along the way, they were the subjects of two one-hour live television concerts and were given the 2001 CMA Horizon Award and ACM's New Vocal Group of the Year.

The trio also caused a ruckus that year when Rooney appeared naked from behind in their music video, "I Melt." The follow-up single, "Mayberry," reached No. 1 in 2004. That same year, DeMarcus married Allison Alderson.

The hit songs and relentless work ethic drove them inexorably toward platinum status and a host of awards and milestones. Their debut CD was one of only three million-selling debuts in half a decade, and it spawned four top-ten singles. They toured with Brooks & Dunn and Kenny Chesney, headlined their own tours: CMT "Most Wanted Live Tour," 2003 "I Melt" and 2004 & 2005's "Here's To You Tour."

In early 2005, the band's album Feels Like Today picked up steam, due to the single, "Bless the Broken Road," which held on to the No. 1 spot on Billboard's country airplay chart for five weeks. The song also won a Grammy for country song, an award given to the songwriters. Feels Like Today ended up becoming the top-selling country album of 2005, even though it was released a year earlier. It also included the hits "Skin (Sarabeth)" and "Fast Cars and Freedom."

Feels Like Today finds Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney taking their trademark vocals and soaring harmonies into new territory, with songs that reflect a maturity in both style and outlook befitting the five years of life-changing success they've put behind them.

Collectively the guys wrote four songs for the album. Bless The Broken Road is a song we heard a couple of years ago. It's probably our favorite ballad on the record. Not just a song, we call it a piece (master)," says Gary. Then I Did is another great Jeffrey Steele tune. He is such an amazing writer. We thought it sounded like a These Days Part 2. We were pleasantly surprised how great the track turned out," says Jay. Fast Cars is a cool way to tell your woman that she still looks as good as she did when you first met and she doesn't need make up," says Gary. "She is still as beautiful and you love her as much as you did the first day."

As they have grown musically, they have continued to reach personal milestones. Gary is married, with two daughters, Brittany, 6, and Brooklyn, 2. Jay married a former Miss Tennessee in 2004, and Joe Don recently wed Tiffany Falon. Their growth as people is reflected in the ever-increasing depth of their music, and they are enjoying both the effort and the rewards.

In 2006, the trio released "Me and My Gang" and played for more than a million fans on their tour. Hits from the album include "What Hurts the Most," the title track and "I Wish." That same year, Rooney married Playmate of the Year Tiffany Fallon. They also had a country hit with "Life Is a Highway," from the animated movie, Cars. They also won their fourth CMA vocal group award in 2006.

They view all their successes as spurs to further creative excellence. "When we started our career," says DeMarcus "there's no way we could have dreamed this. We've surpassed our goals in just three albums. We are humbled by country radio for playing our songs and for the support of Lyric Street Records and our amazing fans."

Sources: cmt.com, about.com, rascalflatts.com.