Rascal Flatts is an American country
music group composed of three members: Gary LeVox
(lead
vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar,
keyboard, piano, vocals) and Joe
Don Rooney (lead guitar, vocals). LeVox and
DeMarcus are second cousins.
During the 2000–10 decade, Rascal Flatts recorded for Disney Music Group's Lyric Street Records. While on that label, the
band released seven albums, all of which have been certified platinum or higher by
the Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA). In order of release, these albums are Rascal Flatts (2000), Melt (2002), Feels
Like Today (2004), Me
and My Gang (2006), Still
Feels Good (2007), Greatest Hits Volume 1
(2008) and Unstoppable (2009). After
Lyric Street closed in 2010, Rascal Flatts moved to the independent Big Machine Records, releasing Nothing
Like This in November 2010. Their eighth studio album, Changed, was released in April
2012.
Rascal Flatts' studio albums have accounted for 26
single releases. All of these have charted within the top 20 or higher on the Billboard Hot
Country Songs charts, including 12 number ones. The band's longest-lasting
number one, a cover of Marcus Hummon's "Bless the Broken Road", spent five weeks
in that position in early 2005. The late 2005–early 2006 release "What Hurts the Most" was a number one on
both the country and adult contemporary charts, and peaked at number six on the
Billboard Hot 100.
History
We're not
just business partners, we are good friends. That's why we have had the
longevity we have.
Joe Don Rooney, 2006, People magazine[2]
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.[1]
(DeMarcus's brother-in-law, James Otto, is also a country music artist.) DeMarcus
moved to Nashville in 1992, earning his first record deal as part of a
Christian group called East to West. In 1997, DeMarcus called LeVox, and
convinced him to come to Nashville and provide some harmonies on Michael English's album Gospel, for
which he was producing. They engineered the album together, and became
English's back-up band.[3]
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,[1]
and when their part-time guitarist could not make it one night, DeMarcus
invited Rooney to sit in. The crowd's reaction was a positive one, and many
asked the trio what their band's name was. They told the crowd that they did
not have a name, and according to Gary, a man approached them and told the trio
that he had a garage band when he was younger, named Rascal Flatts.[citation needed] The trio liked
the name, and began performing together.
Singer Mila Mason
recommended the group to record producers Mark Bright and Marty Williams,[4] 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."[5]
The band was signed to Lyric Street in late 1999.
Musical
career
2000–2002: Rascal
Flatts
In early 2000, the group made its debut with the
single "Prayin' for Daylight", a song that had
been on the three-song demo that had got the band signed.[5]
The song, which reached number three on the Billboard country charts, was the first
single from their self-titled debut, which was issued in early
2000 on Lyric Street.[1]
Following "Prayin' for Daylight", the album's other three singles all
made top ten on that chart: "This Everyday Love", "While You Loved Me", and "I'm Movin' On", which
respectively peaked at numbers 9, 7 and 4. "I'm Movin' On" was
awarded Song of the Year by the Academy of Country Music in 2002.
The album was met with positive reviews. Stephen Thomas Erlewine called it "a
sunny, pleasing modern country-pop album".[6]
2002–2004: Melt
Melt was the title of their second
album, released in 2002. Unlike their previous album, Rascal Flatts co-produced
Melt.[1]
Its first single, "These Days", also became their
first number-one single on the country charts.[1]
The album included two more top ten hits, "Love
You Out Loud" and "I Melt", and the band's second number-one single,
"Mayberry". The music video
for "I Melt" featured partial nudity,[7]
and as a result, the video was banned from the Great American Country network.
2004–2005: Feels
Like Today
Rascal Flatts' third album was entitled Feels
Like Today, and it was released in late 2004. The album's title track was its first single, followed
by "Bless the Broken Road". This latter song
was originally recorded by its co-writer, Marcus
Hummon, and had also been recorded by Melodie Crittenden (whose version made the
country charts in 1998), Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Sons of the Desert. In early 2005, Rascal
Flatts' version of the song spent five weeks at number one. After this song,
"Fast Cars and Freedom" also went to
number one. While this song was climbing the charts, some radio stations began
playing a hidden track on the album, titled "Skin".
This unsolicited airplay caused "Skin" to enter the top 40, and after
"Fast Cars and Freedom" peaked, it was released as a single under the
title "Skin (Sarabeth)" and officially added to the
album's track list.
2005–2007 Me
and My Gang and Still Feels Good
Rascal Flatts' thirteenth chart entry, "What Hurts the Most", was released in
December 2005. This song, which had previously been recorded by Mark Wills
in 2003, was the first single from their fourth album, 2006's Me
and My Gang. For this album, the band worked with producer Dann Huff.
"What Hurts the Most" was a crossover hit, reaching number one at both
country and adult contemporary, as well as top 10 on the Hot 100 charts. After
it, the album's title track charted in the top ten, and both
"My Wish"
and "Stand" made number one.
Also in 2006, the group charted in the top 10 of the
Hot 100 with a cover of Tom Cochrane's "Life
Is a Highway", which they recorded for the Pixar film Cars.
Although "Life Is a Highway" was not released to country radio,
several 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 US debut of 2006,
with 722,000 units in April.[8] The
album spent 15 weeks as the number one album on the Billboard Country Chart and
was the second-best selling album of 2006 (behind High School Musical) with sales totaling
3.5 million by year's end.[9]
The album's success led the band to take the spot of top-selling artist for all
genres of music, which hadn't been accomplished in 15 years by a country group.[10]
Carrie Underwood and Rascal Flatts performed
together at the 2007 Grammy Awards ceremony.[11]
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. It became a
number-one country hit in September and was the first single from their album Still
Feels Good. It was followed by "Winner at a Losing Game", the first single
which the band wrote itself.[12]
Both it and its followup "Every Day" peaked at number two
on the country charts. The fourth single from Still Feels Good, "Bob
That Head", became the band's first single to miss the top ten at country
radio. The album's fifth and final single, "Here", was released in August 2008
and became their 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 greatest hits CD, 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".
Rascal Flatts released the first single, "Here Comes Goodbye", from their album Unstoppable to radio on
January 20, 2009, and the album was released on April 7. The song was
co-written by American Idol season 6 finalist Chris Sligh.
The second single, "Summer Nights", co-written
by Gary LeVox, was released in early May 2009, debuted at No. 57 and topped out
at No. 2 on the country charts. The group performed "Summer Nights"
at the CMT Music Awards, Oprah's Kickoff Party, and the finale
of America's Got Talent. The third single off
the album, "Why", peaked at No. 18 on the country
charts. Rascal Flatts performed "Why" on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.
The band released their fourth single, "Unstoppable", in January
2010.
A special release version of their album Unstoppable
is available at JCPenney
stores nationwide. It features a special release song entitled "American
Living" only available on the albums sold at JCPenney stores. JCPenney
is an official sponsor of Rascal Flatts' Unstoppable American Living Tour in a
two-year partnership and $1 of every CD sold at JCPenney will be donated to the
JCPenney Afterschool Fund. On July 16,
2009, as part of the JCPenney American Living Tour, Rascal Flatts made history
as the first country music group to play Chicago's Wrigley
Field.[13]
The trio was joined by fellow artists Vince Gill
and Darius
Rucker for a near-sellout crowd.
2010–present
Nothing Like This, The Best of Rascal Flatts Live and Changed
After the closure of Lyric Street in April 2010,
Rascal Flatts signed to Big Machine Records in July of the same year.
The group's first release for the label was "Why
Wait".[14]
Their next album Nothing Like This was released November 16.[15]
In December 2010, this song became the trio's eleventh number-one single on the
country music 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", which
went to number two in early 2011. Following it was the band's first
collaborative release to country radio, "Easy", which features a duet vocal
from British singer Natasha Bedingfield.
On November 8, 2011, Hollywood
Records released The Best of Rascal Flatts Live.[16]
Rascal Flatts' eighth studio album, entitled Changed, was released on April 3,
2012. It was produced by Dann Huff. The debut single from the album, "Banjo",
reached number one status on the Billboard Country chart. The second single off
the album is "Come Wake Me Up".
Rascal Flatts received the 2,480th star of the Hollywood Walk of Fame on September 17,
2012.[17]
Reception
The group has an uncommon youth demographic (18–25)
for country music. In September 2007, Weekly
Reader Research conducted a poll of more than 2,000 children and Rascal
Flatts ranked as the sixth-most-popular act among ages 10–12.[18]
They have raised and donated millions of dollars to
the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.[19]
They are also involved with the American Red Cross as they are members on the
celebrity cabinet board.[19]
Touring
Rascal Flatts has enjoyed financial success as touring
artists. Nielsen reported that the band was the top selling artist in 2006:
"Rascal Flatts was the biggest selling artist, with nearly 5 million
physical album sales and nearly 4 million digital track sales." They had
their first headlining tour beginning in Fall 2002, and by 2005 they were among
the top 25 tours of the year, grossing $26.3 million in 777,384 tickets sold,
according to Billboard Boxscore.[20]
Their follow-up tour in 2006 grossed $46.2 million, drawing more than a million
people to 79 shows.[20]
Rascal Flatts has the third-highest US country tour in 2007, grossing $34
million from 588,009 tickets sold.[21]
The group grossed $16.8 million dollars from their summer tour alone.[22]
Rascal Flatts's shows are heavy on special effects,
including videos, pyrotechnics and laser lights.[20]
In 2013, Rascal Flatts are heading to Australia for
the first time to headline CMC Rocks The Hunter 2013, which is a
three-day festival from March 15 to March 17. They will close the proceedings.[23]
Tours
- Jo Dee Messina's Burn Tour – 2000–01
- (CMT on Tour)I Melt Tour – 2002–03
- with Chris Cagle
- Brooks & Dunn's Neon Circus & Wild West Show – 2003
- Kenny Chesney's Guitars, Tiki Bars & Whole Lotta Love Tour – 2004
- Here's to You Tour – 2004–05
- with Keith Anderson & Blake Shelton
- Me & My Gang Tour – 2006–07
- with Eric Church (2006: kicked off for playing past time limit), Gary Allan, Jason Aldean, & Taylor Swift (2006)
- Still Feels Good Tour – 2007–08
- with Jason Aldean (2007) & Kellie Pickler (2008) & Taylor Swift (2008)
- Bob That Head Tour – 2008–2009
- Jessica Simpson (2009)
- American Living Unstoppable Tour – 2009–10
- with Darius Rucker
- Nothing Like This Tour – 2010–11
- with Kellie Pickler (2010) Chris Young (2010-11) & Luke Bryan (2011)
- Flatts Fest Tour – 2011[24]
- With Sara Evans, Justin Moore, Easton Corbin
- Thaw Out 2012 Tour – 2012[25]
- With Sara Evans, Hunter Hayes
- Farmers Insurance presents Changed Tour – 2012[26]
- with Little Big Town, Eli Young Band, Edens Edge, Thompson Square(select dates)
Contributions
for other artists
Rascal Flatts' members have also contributed to the
work of other artists. LeVox, along with Jason
Sellers and Wendell Mobley, co-wrote Phil Stacey's
2008 debut single "If You Didn't Love Me".[27]
DeMarcus has co-produced albums for several artists, including Chely Wright's
2002 album Never Love You Enough as well as Chicago's
Chicago
XXX. James Otto's 2008 album Sunset Man
was co-produced by DeMarcus and John Rich of Big
& Rich.
The group has also contributed portions of the Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack,
with acoustic versions of "Bless the Broken Road" and
"Backwards". In 2011, they did a remix of "That
Should Be Me" by Justin Bieber on the remix album "Never Say Never – The Remixes".
In the same year, Anna Wilson's "Countrypolitan Duets" album also
include a song that she feat. Rascal Flatts & Ray Price which is called
"You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me". Also in 2011, the
band collaborated with Michael Bolton on his album Gems, on the song "Love Is
Everything". In 2012, Lionel Richie featured Rascal Flatts on his duet
album called Tuskegee, on the song "Dancing on the Ceiling".
Discography
Main article: Rascal Flatts discography
- Rascal Flatts (2000)
- Melt (2002)
- Feels Like Today (2004)
- Me and My Gang (2006)
- Still Feels Good (2007)
- Greatest Hits Volume 1 (2008)
- Unstoppable (2009)
- Nothing Like This (2010)
- Changed (2012)
U.S. Country
number one singles
- "These Days" (2002) (3 weeks)
- "Mayberry" (2004)
- "Bless the Broken Road" (2005) (5 weeks)
- "Fast Cars and Freedom" (2005) (3 weeks)
- "What Hurts the Most" (2006) (4 weeks) [A]
- "My Wish" (2006)
- "Stand" (2007)
- "Take Me There" (2007) (3 weeks)
- "Here" (2009) (2 weeks)
- "Here Comes Goodbye" (2009)
- "Why Wait" (2010) (2 weeks)
- "Banjo" (2012)
Notes
- A ^ "What Hurts the Most" also became Rascal Flatts' first number one adult hit in the U.S., reaching No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary chart for one week in November, three weeks in December, and five weeks in January.
Awards
This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2008)
|
2000
- ACM Top New Vocal Duo Or Group (presented 2001)
2002
- CMA Horizon Award
- ACM Song of the Year ("I'm Movin' On") (presented 2003)
- ACM Top Vocal Group (presented 2003)
2003
- CMT Flameworthy Video Music Award for Group/Duo of the Year ("These Days")
- CMA Vocal Group of the Year
- ACM Top Vocal Group (presented 2004)
2004
- CMT Flameworthy Music Video Award for Group/Duo of the Year ("I Melt")
- CMA Vocal Group
- ACM Top Vocal Group (presented 2005)
2005
- CMT Music Award for Group/Duo of the Year ("Feels Like Today")
- CMA Vocal Group of the Year
- ACM Top Vocal Group (presented 2006)
- Radio Music Awards for Song of the Year/Country Radio ("Bless The Broken Road")[28]
- Billboard Roadworks '05 Touring Awards for Breakthrough Act[29]
2006
- CMT Music Award for Group/Duo of the Year ("Skin (Sarabeth)")[30]
- CMA Vocal Group of the Year
- AMA Favorite Country Band, Duo or Group
- AMA T-Mobile Text-In Award
- People's Choice Awards Favorite Song from a Movie ("Life Is A Highway")
- People's Choice Awards Favorite Song Remake ("Life Is A Highway")
- CMT Loaded Awards – Number One Digitally Active Group/Duo
- CMT Loaded Awards – Number One Streamed Music Video ("What Hurts the Most")
- Grammy Awards Best Country Song ("Bless the Broken Road"); songwriter award
2007
- CMT Music Awards for Group Video of the Year ("What Hurts the Most")
- ACM Top Vocal Group (presented 2008)
- CMA Vocal Group of the Year
- AMA Favorite Country Band, Duo or Group
- BMI Song of The Year ("What Hurts The Most")[31]
2008
- People's Choice Awards Favorite Country Song ("Stand")[32]
- CMT Music Award for Group Video of the Year ("Take Me There")[33]
- ACM Top Vocal Group (presented 2009)
- ACM Humanitarian Award
- CMA Vocal Group of the Year
- AMA Favorite Country Band, Duo or Group
2009
- People's Choice Awards Favorite Group
- CMT Music Award for Group Video of the Year ("Every Day")[34]
2010
- Star on the Music City Walk of Fame
- ACA Decade Artist award
2011
- Tony Martell Lifetime Entertainment Achievement Award[35]
- CMT Music Award for Collaborative Video of the Year ("That Should Be Me")
- Member of the Grand Ole Opry
2012
- CRS 2012 Artist Humanitarian Award[36]
- Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Film and
television appearances
Rascal Flatts, along with David Hartley, contributed
"Walk The Llama Llama" to the sound track of The Emperor's New Groove.
In addition to Tom Cochrane's "Life Is a
Highway," the group covered "The Beatles"
hit "Revolution" for Evan
Almighty. Their version of the song did not appear on the soundtrack.
Rascal Flatts appear as themselves in "The
Limo" episode of Yes, Dear. After being kidnapped in a limo by the
main characters, the group performs "Bless the Broken Road" for them
as an anniversary gift.
The group appears as themselves in Hannah Montana: The Movie singing
their song "Backwards" during the scene of Miley's grandma's birthday
party, and then "Bless the Broken Road" in an evening scene on the
front porch.
They appeared as themselves, promoting Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution
in Huntington, West Virginia.
The group appears as themselves on CSI (season 10 episode 14),
in which they perform in concert. In the episode entitled
"Unshockable", DeMarcus is electrocuted by what turned out to be
their bass tech Travis Murray. On the commentary they said what a great
opportunity it was to work with such fine actors who are so good at what they
do, LeVox stated, "It's one of my favorite shows and it was an honor to
add a little piece of Rascal Flatts to the episode."
They also appeared in a Hershey Chocolate commercial.
On April 28, 2010, Rascal Flatts appeared as
themselves on American Idol. They also sang with Shakira.
They recorded a live concert during the January 20,
2011 show in St. Paul, Minnesota, that was broadcast on ABC,
March 12, 2011.
On April 17, 2011, the group appeared as themselves on
West Coast Customs. West Coast Customs
builds them a custom Chevrolet Camaro inspired by their song,
"Red Camaro".
On May 23, 2011, Rascal Flatts performed on 'Surprise,
Oprah! A Farewell Spectacular Part 1' along with other artists including Josh Groban,
Patti
LaBelle, and Beyoncé.
On April 5, 2012, Rascal Flatts hit the big screen for
their special Changed: One Night Exclusive Theater Event. The special
in-theater concert hit movie screens nationwide for one night only. It included
live performance footage, Q&A sessions, and welcome messages from the band.
The event showcased many tracks from the upcoming studio album.[37]
References
3. ^
Mueller, Walt. "Rascal
Flatts: Taking kids to the country". Center for Parent/Youth
Understanding. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
4. ^ http://www.voxmagazine.com/stories/2004/02/05/ruckus-raising-rascals-sorry-spanky-not-so-little-/
5. ^ a
b
"Interview
with Doug Howard". HitQuarters. 10 Jul 2006. Retrieved 23 Nov 2010.
12. ^
Horner, Marianne (24 March 2008). "Story Behind the Song: "Winner at
a Losing Game"". Country
Weekly 15 (6): 64.
15. ^
Rascal Flatts (2009-09-14). "Rascal
Flatts to Release 'Nothing Like This' on Big Machine". Billboard.com.
Retrieved 2011-07-06.
16. ^ "Rascal
Flatts' Live Album Due Nov. 8". Country Music Television. October 13,
2011. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
17. ^ "Rascal
Flatts' Star to Be Unveiled on Hollywood Walk of Fame". CMT News.com.
11 September 2012.
19. ^ a
b
"Rascal Flatts".
Rascal Flatts. 2010-10-15. Retrieved 2011-07-06.
26. ^ "Re-named
2012 summer tour from "The American Band Tour" to Farmers Insurance
Presents “Changed Tour”". Rascal Flatts. 2012-03-30. Retrieved
2012-04-11.
33. ^ CMT Music Awards
2008 : Winners : Taylor Swift, Kellie Pickler, Rascal Flatts, LeAnn
Rimes, Trace Adkins and More
36. ^ http://www.rascalflatts.com/story/news/rascal-flatts-to-receive-crs-2012-artist-humanitarian-award
37. ^ "Backbeat:
Rascal Flatts' 'Changed' Doc Premiere, With Scott Borchetta, Barry Weiss,
if you like the song rascal Flatt click the link below to downloadMore". Billboard.biz. 9 April 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
if you like the song of rascal Flatt click the link below to download :
Me and My Gang - 2006
Still Feels Good - 2007
Unstopable - 2009
Nothing Like This Album - 2010
Pasword : www.radencupank.blogspot.com
Me and My Gang - 2006
Still Feels Good - 2007
Unstopable - 2009
Nothing Like This Album - 2010
Pasword : www.radencupank.blogspot.com