Rascal Flatts

With their pleasing harmonies and twangy melodies, Rascal Flatts quickly became a favorite within the country music scene with the release of their self-titled debut in 2000. The band first came together when second cousins Gary LeVox and Jay DeMarcus both made the trip to Nashville to pursue careers in music. DeMarcus was serving as leader for Chely Wright's band when he met a talented guitarist and Joe Don Rooney, who he soon recruited for he and LeVox's project. By 1999, they had named the group Rascal Flatts and were signed to Lyric Street Records. The following year, they released their self-titled debut to substantial acclaim. Within two years they were releasing their sophomore effort, Melt, which Rascal Flatts co-produced. A particular milestone would come with the release of their 2004 album Feels Like Today, which featured the band's cover of the classic song "Bless the Broken Road." That cover would remain at number one for five weeks, and cemented the group's status as a country music hitmaking machine. Their next album, Me and My Gang, featured another prominent cover, this time of Tom Cochrane's "Life Is a Highway." Though the group didn't release the song as a single, country music stations picked it up anyway and it charted in the top 20 of Hot Country Songs. After Lyric Street closed in 2010, the group moved over to Big Machine Records, where they released the hit albums Nothing Like This, Changed, and Rewind.