Rascal Flatts are heading into tonight’s ACM Awards as a nominee, for the first time since 2016. The trio, made up of Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney, are nominated for Vocal Group of the Year, a category they once won seven years in a row.
Not only are Rascal Flatts nominated, but they will also perform. The threesome will combine their talents with the Backstreet Boys, to perform “What Hurts the Most.” The song is from Rascal Flatts’ forthcoming Life Is A Highway: Refueled Duets record.
“We’ve known each other for a while,” Jay DeMarcus says ahead of the ACM Awards. “We’ve run into each other at different awards shows and things, and admired each other’s music. We just thought it would be really fun to try something with them. And then when we put this record together, the duets record that we have coming out June 6 … we thought they would be a great addition, so we asked them to come along, and sing ‘What Hurts the Most’ with us.
“And that was so much fun,” he adds. “Because when you have all of those voices, and you get in there and start to experiment and arrange the song, and come up with different parts, the song really has a completely different feel to it now.”
It’s a bit surreal for Rascal Flatts to be heading back to the ACM Awards, which feels full-circle for the three band members.
“The first award we ever received was an ACM Award,” Rooney says of the trophy they won in 2000 for Top New Vocal Duet or Group. “I just remember not being able to feel my feet, walking up the steps to go grab that award. It was incredible.”
“Just seeing our names on the same card with like Alabama and Diamond Rio and all of that, and then actually winning Vocal Group [of the Year]. And then, for us to go on and win, to be Alabama’s record, it’s been a fairy tale,” LeVox adds.
With a quarter of a century between Rascal Flatts’ first award and their nomination tonight, the Flatts’ are more excited about their future in country music than ever before.
“It really means the absolute world to us,” Gary LeVox says. “It felt so good to be nominated again. You miss what you don’t have, so we were just so humbled and honored. You know, I think once you start being nominated a bunch and you start winning them all the time, that’s really easy to get used to, you know? And it just goes to show that you miss what you don’t have. And we are truly honored and humbled.”
Other performers for the 2025 ACM Awards include Lainey Wilson, Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Brooks & Dunn, Chris Stapleton, Clint Black, Kelsea Ballerini, LeAnn Rimes, Miranda Lambert, Rascal Flatts and Wynonna Judd, among others.
The 2025 ACM Awards will air live at 8:00 PM ET on Amazon Prime.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the ACM / Christopher Polk