Staff Column: Rascal Flatts by: Brett Briggeman

Rascal Flatts is currently celebrating 25 years as a band, touring the United States of America on their Life is a Highway tour. 

Rascal Flatts was founded in 1999 by Gary LeVox (lead vocals), his second cousin Jay DeMarcus (background vocals and bass guitar) and their friend Joe Don Rooney (background vocals and lead guitar), releasing their first album in 2000. 

For as long as I can remember, I have been a fan of Rascal Flatts. I was initially exposed to their music through the movie Cars (2006), where they played what is known as the main theme for the series, a song called Life is a Highway. For almost 20 years, I have been listening to the band, getting excited when they announce new singles or especially new albums. Growing up I constantly dreamed of going to one of their concerts. 

In 2020, they were going to go on their farewell tour, celebrating 20 years of music, with all of them planning to spend more time with family and to even do some solo music work themselves. When I heard that they were going on tour, I was excited and began to save money so that I could go and see them when they came to Fort Worth. Sadly, because of COVID-19, the band had to cancel the concert and I thought that I would never get another opportunity to go and see my all-time favorite band perform. 

But then it happened. In the fall of 2024, Rascal Flatts began to tease their return, finally officially announcing in October 2024 that they were going back on tour in 2025. And what could be more fitting for their return tour than to name it after one of the songs that helped them explode in notoriety and popularity, Life is a Highway. When I found out that they were coming back, I was ecstatic. I called my Mom and told her that I was going to the concert, finally having the opportunity to fulfill a life-long dream to watch them perform. We bought tickets for the concert and waited for them to come to Dickie’s Arena in Fort Worth on March 27, 2025. 

When the day finally arrived, I was extremely excited, ready to go and see one of the greatest country trios perform. The show started with Chris Lane coming out and playing the first set of the night, getting the crowd ready for what was to come. After he finished his set, Lauren Alaina followed, playing the second set leading up to Rascal Flatts. Both artists are fantastic and even though I enjoyed the pre-show sets, I was ready for Rascal Flatts. 

When it was finally time for them to come out on stage, the crowd went crazy. The excitement and joy was palpable. Even if you are not the biggest Rascal Flatts fan, you would get caught up in the excitement of it all because of the crowd atmosphere. The lights, videos, cameras, everything was planned out to perfection, allowing the crowd to see all of the band members up close and personal, even if they were sitting in the back of the arena. The first song they played was called Here’s to You, focusing on thanking the fans for their continued support and love over the past 25 years.

The artistry and professionalism was extremely apparent, but this does not mean they did not have fun with the crowd. There were multiple instances where they did extremely effective crowd work, such as playing the intro to Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi or Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond and then joking that the crowd was more excited for those songs than the entire concert. They played many other of their major hits, such as These Days, Bless the Broken Road and Riot, saving Life is a Highway for the encore.

All three members of Rascal Flatts are also unapologetically Christian. There were a number of times throughout the show where they gave all the glory to God and encouraged those in attendance to seek Him, emphasizing the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and speaking on how it is only by His blood that we can be saved and reconciled to God. Rooney even shared a portion of his testimony, thanking God for over three and a half years of sobriety. 

From fantastic music and beautiful lighting, to professionalism and the Gospel, Rascal Flatts were authentic and did an amazing job illustrating all of these aspects of their band. I wholeheartedly recommend that you check out their music and more about their story. You will not regret it.