Rascal Flatts

Since the amiable trio’s first hits at the beginning of the 2000s, Rascal Flatts have set a remarkably steady course through a transitional era for the country music they know and love. Founded in 2000 by vocalist Gary LeVox, multi-instrumentalist (and Gary’s second cousin) Jay DeMarcus and guitarist Joe Don Rooney, Rascal Flatts wasted no time finding their sweet spot. Neither as slickly packaged as the major ‘90s acts who preceded them nor as blustery as the bro-country acts they partially inspired, the band built their brand on smooth vocal harmonies, sunny melodies and a warm-hearted wholesomeness that befits their roots in Christian music. By providing all these goods on such a dependable basis, Rascal Flatts achieved the kind of crossover success that typically eludes most acts in hats and jeans. A countrified spin on a rock power ballad that became one of the most inescapable songs of 2006, “What Hurts the Most” is one of the band’s many hits that went down just as well with pop audiences as it did with their most loyal fanbase. The same was true of their spirited cover of Tom Cochrane’s “Life Is a Highway” for the soundtrack of Cars. Powered by those hits, their fourth album Me and My Gang was second only to High School Musical among the year’s biggest sellers. Later releases like 2017’s Back to Us showed no dip in quality control for Rascal Flatts’ admirably consistent supply of rousing, arena-ready country-pop anthems and impeccably crafted ballads that let LeVox do all the yearning he can do.