rascal flats

Group History

After landing a record deal with Lyric Street Records the threesome released their eponymous debut in 2000. The band presently has released 4 full length albums. The band's records and live shows have found a relatively large fan following.

"I Melt" controversy

Rascal Flatts achieved notoriety in 2003 with their music video, "I Melt". Some fans objected to the video - which starred band member Rooney and model Christina Auria - because it contained brief nudity, and wanted the video banned from CMT and Great American Country (Ironically, Jay DeMarcus was a member of the Christian pop group East to West in the mid 1990s). Eventually, Rascal Flatts released an edited version of the video, which aired during daytime hours on CMT. [1]

The song "I Melt" came from Rascal Flatts' second album, Melt, which contained the band's first number one country single, "These Days" (which reached the top spot of Billboard magazine's Hot Country Singles and Tracks chart in December 2002).

The group released a music video for the song "Skin." The song - a hidden track from the album Feels Like Today - The song's video featured the Cirque du Soleil performers.

2006: Me And My Gang

Rascal Flatts' latest album, Me And My Gang, was released on April 4, 2006. This album includes the band's new single, What Hurts the Most. The single originally was recorded by Mark Wills as an album track. But the song first became popular when it was recorded by ex-S Club 7 member Jo O'Meara and released in the UK in September 2005 as her debut solo single. On April 2, 2006, the Me And My Gang album was leaked on the Internet. The album sold more than 722,000 copies its first week on sale, hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 charts and has been country music's best-selling release since Tim McGraw's Live Like You Were Dying in September 2004, which sold 766,000 copies. The group's current single, the title track from "Me and My Gang" is another song dedicated to the fans which have made Rascal Flatts the phenomenon that they have become.

Trivia

• In May 2005 they performed their hit "Bless the Broken Road" live on the popular television program American Idol with contestant Carrie Underwood. Rascal Flatts weren't the first to record "Bless the Broken Road". It actually was written in 1994.

• In December 2005, Rascal Flatts' hit "Bless the Broken Road" was nominated for three Grammy awards including Song of the Year, Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and Best Country Song. They won in the Best Country Song category.

• In 2006, The group covered Tom Cochrane's "Life is a Highway" for the Disney animated movie "Cars". The movie was released on June 9, 2006.

• The name "Rascal Flatts" was suggested by someone who had a garage band by that name in the 1960s. "Rascal Flat" is the name of a geological formation near Catoosa, Oklahoma.

Discography

Albums

Singles

• ^A "Skin (Sarabeth)" had originally charted earlier in 2005 as just "Skin", based on unsolicited play that brought it up to #38 on the Billboard country charts prior to the single's release.
• ^B Entered Pop 100 charts in 2006.
• ^C Currently active on charts.
• ^D Charted because of high radio play without being released as singles.

Videography

• Rascal Flatts Live (2003) Recorded in Daytona Beach, Florida

Awards

• 2002 - ACM for Song of the Year for I'm Movin' On
• 2003 - CMT Flameworthy Video Music Award for Group/Duo of the Year
• 2003 - CMA for Vocal Group of the Year
• 2003 - ACM for Top Vocal Group
• 2003 - ACM for Song of the Year
• 2004 - CMT Flameworthy Music Video Award for Group/Duo of the Year
• 2004 - CMA for Vocal Group of the Year
• 2005 - CMA for Vocal Group of the Year
• 2005 - ACM for Top Vocal Group
• 2006 - Grammy for Best Country Song for "Bless The Broken Road"
• 2006 - CMT Flameworthy Video Music Award for Group/Duo of the Year
• 2006 - ACM for Top Vocal Group

External links

• Rascal Flatts Official Website
• Official Street Team of Rascal Flatts
• Rascal Flatts at MySpace
• Rascal Flatts Music Video