In January, country music trio Rascal Flatts—comprised of Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney—revealed they will disband at the end of the year to tackle individual projects.
While the COVID-19 pandemic put a kibosh on their Farewell Tour, the trio continued to entertain their fans by releasing a seven-song EP, How They Remember You, in July, and a new album, Twenty Years of Rascal Flatts The Greatest Hits, in October.
Gary, Jay and Joe Don recently sat down with Kix Brooks of American Country Countdown to reminiscence about some of their favorite memories over their 20-year career, including when they “crashed” a couple’s wedding reception in Oshkosh, Wis., in 2017, and treated the newlyweds to a surprise performance of “God Bless the Broken Road.”
The bride and groom were longtime fans of the trio and had selected “God Bless the Broken Road” as their first dance. Unbeknownst to the newlyweds, a family friend and the bride’s sister set the wheels in motion for the surprise performance from the trio, who happened to be headlining the Country USA Music Festival in Oshkosh that very day.
“One thing we did do that was one of the biggest things we’ve done in a long time was a wedding crash, and these people had no idea we were coming,” says Joe Don. “And they were Rascal Flatts fans—we found out through the bride’s sister. And so, she hooked it all up, and it was like one of these really cool experiences . . . out in the middle of nowhere in Wisconsin. It ended up being one of the coolest things we’ve done in a long time. Just a joyous like, ‘Wow! That was so cool.’”
