Rascal Flatts have a new song out from their forthcoming Life Is A Highway: Refueled Duets album. The trio just released “What Hurts the Most,” their collaboration with the Backstreet Boys. Rascal Flatts announced the release of the song, when revealing the two acts would also perform together at the upcoming ACM Awards.

Rascal Flatts are not only performing with the Backstreet Boys, but they are also nominated. The trio, made up of Gary LeVox, Joe Don Roony and Jay DeMarcus, is nominated for Group of the Year, for the first time since 2016.

“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.”

Rascal Flatts have a Top 30 hit with  “I Dare You,” a collaboration with the Jonas Brothers. It’s the only original song on Life Is A Highway: Refueled Duets.

“We were putting this record together, and one of the people we reached out to were the Jonas Brothers, about doing one of our songs,” DeMarcus recalls. “And they said they were thrilled that we asked, but instead of doing one of our songs, they had written a song recently with Shay Mooney that they wanted to throw in the hat. And I loved the song when I first heard it. It seemed to fit what we do and it’s a really great collaboration.”

It was the Backstreet Boys who first went into the studio with Rascal Flatts, kicking off Rascal Flatts’ first project since Back to Us was released in 2017.

“The Backstreet Boys is the first thing we did, and it turned out great,” Rooney remembers. “And that kind of kicked things off. And then we had a little pause there for a little bit. We got back on the horse and finally rounded it out. So proud of this project. Grateful to be able to do it.”

Other performers for the 2025 ACM Awards include Lainey Wilson, Cody Johnson, Alan Jackso, Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Brooks & Dunn, Chris Stapleton, Clint Black, Kelsea Ballerini, LeAnn Rimes, Miranda Lambert, and Wynonna Judd. Reba McEntire will return to host the 2025 ACM Awards.

Rascal Flatts also dropped “Mayberry” with Blake Shelton and “I’m Movin’ On” with Kelly Clarkson from Life Is A Highway: Find “I Dare You,” “What Hurts the Most,” and all of Rascal Flatts’ music and upcoming shows at RascalFlatts.com.

The 2025 ACM Awards will air live on Prime Video from Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas on Thursday, May 8 at 8:00 PM ET. More information is available at ACMCountry.com.