Then & Now

Rascal Flatts


2009 Unstoppable

The title of this album proved accurate, as the Flatts' sixth studio album earned them yet another number-one album debut. Also notable in 2009: The band contributed two acoustic numbers ("Backwards" and "Bless The Broken Road") to the soundtrack to Hannah Montana: The Movie.


2008 Greatest Hits Volume 1

Rascal Flatts packed their first greatest-hits album with 13 smash singles, and, for a limited time, included three Christmas songs (newly recorded) to make the late October release a perfect holiday present.


2007 Still Feels Good

After performing with Carrie Underwood at the 2007 Grammy Awards, the band followed up with their fifth studio album in September. The record continued Rascal Flatts' hitmaking streak, spawning five singles which all hit within the top 15 of the Country chart (two reaching No. 1).


2006 Me & My Gang

Rascal Flatts broke crossover records with their fourth album--its first-week sales were the greatest of any album that year, and it was the second-biggest overall seller of the year in all genres. The evocative single "What Hurts The Most" led the way to success, being released in December 2005 just ahead of the album's spring 2006 release. It broke through to the Adult Contemporary chart as well as Country. Also that year, the band recorded a cover of Tom Cochrane's "Life Is A Highway" for the Disney Pixar movie Cars--the cover became a hit and was added to subsequent pressings of Me & My Gang. Shortly after the release of the album, Joe Don Rooney marries his girlfriend, Playboy Playmate Tiffany Fallon.


2004Feels Like Today

The band's third album spawned its first crossover single--the smash hit, "Bless The Broken Road," which reached #20 on the Adult Contemporary chart (as well as a multiweek run at the top of the Country chart). The song was covered by Christian act Selah and hit Top 5 for that format as well. This was followed by "Fast Cars & Freedom," another No. 1 Country single. What was originally a hidden track, "SKin," turned out to be a #2 charter after radio airplay and was eventually released as an official single.


2002 Melt

The Flatts' sophomore effort, which they coproduced, spawned their first No. 1 hit on the Country charts--the single "These Days," which remains a classic favorite to this day. The band experiences controversy over the video for "I Melt," a suggestive video featuring brief nudity (including a shot of Joe Don Rooney's bare rear end).


2000 Rascal Flatts

Early this year, the band comes out with its self-titled debut, making a immediate splash on the Country scene. The first single, "Prayin' For Daylight," rocketed up to No. 3 on the Billboard Country chart, followed by three more charting singles. The album goes on to be certified multiplatinum.


1999 Rascal Flatts emerges in Nashville

Ohio-based Jay DeMarcus moves to Nashville in 1992 after landing a record deal as part of a Christian music group. Five years later he convinces his second cousin, Gary LeVox, to leave Ohio and join him in pursuing music as a career. Shortly after, DeMarcus meets Joe Don Rooney and invites him to play with him and LeVox. The trio take the name Rascal Flatts and begin performing around town, eventually getting signed to Disney-owned country music label Lyric Street Records in 1999.

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