Gary, Jay and Joe Don of Rascal Flatts have fond memories of some of their favorite childhood Christmas presents. Even though it didn’t exactly work as advertised, Gary LeVox loved the Evil Knievel he got one year. He says, “The commercials looked great. He’d do a wheelie for like three minutes.” But Jay DeMarcus points out, “He didn’t really roll that way though when you got it.” Even still, Gary loved his Evil Knievel and his GI Joe.
Jay, who plays bass in Rascal Flatts, but is also a pretty decent drummer, says, “One of my favorite gifts was an old set of Gretsch drums that my Grandpa bought me one year for Christmas. They were used, but they were vintage Gretsch drums and I loved those things, man.” Unfortunately, Jay says, “They were ruined in a flood when our basement flooded.”
Joe Don Rooney recalls getting hours and hours of entertainment out of his favorite Christmas gift. He says, “I got like a Nintendo one Christmas. That was pretty awesome. Little Zelda, Double Dribble. Hours and hours on that Nintendo. It was a great gift.”
Heading into the holidays, Rascal Flatts is climbing the charts with their latest single, “I Like the Sound of That,” off their Rewind album, with plans to work on their next album during some of their time off at the end of the year.
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Rascal Flatts – Christmas :41
Gary LeVox – “The best gift I ever received at Christmas, it had to have been Evil Knievel.”
Jay DeMarcus – “The wind-up one, where he would take off …”
Gary – “Yeah.”
Jay – “Yeah, I loved that.”
Gary – “The commercials looked great. He’d do a wheelie for like three minutes.”
Jay – “He didn’t really roll that way though when you got it.”
Gary – “No. But I loved it. Evil Knievel and then GI Joe, probably.”
Jay – “One of my favorite gifts was an old set of Gretsch drums that my Grandpa bought me one year for Christmas. They were used, but they were vintage Gretsch drums and I loved those things, man. They were ruined in a flood when our basement flooded.”
Joe Don – “I got like a Nintendo one Christmas. That was pretty awesome. Little Zelda, Double Dribble. Hours and hours on that Nintendo. It was a great gift.”
WHAT THEY’RE DOING THIS WEEK – DECEMBER 7, 2015 – MONDAY
- Rascal Flatts just finished their brand new music video for “I Like the Sound of That.” It can be seen exclusively on Tidal here.
- The trio will be featured on CBS’ “A Home for the Holidays” on December 18th.
- The guys recently announced that they would be performing in Vegas in February again this year at The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. You can get tickets here.
RASCAL FLATTS – JUST THE FACTS
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: http://www.rascalflatts.com
FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/rascalflatts
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/rascalflatts
INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/demarcusflatt/
MEMBERS: Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney
BIRTH DATES: Gary – July 10, 1970 (He’s 45) Jay – April 26, 1971 (He’s 44) Joe Don – September 13, 1975 (He’s 40)
HOMETOWN / ORIGIN: Columbus, Ohio (Gary and Jay) Picher, Oklahoma (Joe Don)
WIVES: Gary’s wife’s name is Tara. Jay’s wife’s name is Allison. Joe Don’s wife’s name is Tiffany.
CHILDREN: Gary has two daughters, Jay has a daughter and a son and Joe Don has two girls (one baby girl born September 2014) and a boy.
DEBUT SINGLE: “Prayin For Daylight” in 2000.
DEBUT ALBUM: Rascal Flatts released on 2000.
CURRENT ALBUM: Rewind RELEASED: March 4, 2014
CURRENT SINGLE: “I Like The Sound of That” sits at number 26 this week on the Media Base country charts.
GRAND OLE OPRY DEBUT: In 2000. They were made members of the Grand Ole Opry on October 8, 2011.
LATEST MUSIC VIDEO – 2015 – “I Like The Sound of That” You can see it here.
RECENT TWEETS:
Rascal Flatts @rascalflatts Dec 4
Check out what new music the guys are listening to in this new @USATODAY interview: http://usat.ly/1Nw8nx1
Rascal Flatts @rascalflatts Dec 3
Watch our new music video #ILiketheSoundofThat streaming exclusively on @TIDALHiFi here: http://bit.ly/1PzYSiz
Rascal Flatts @rascalflatts Dec 2
New music video coming TOMORROW at 10AM ET exclusively on @TIDALhifi #ILiketheSoundofThat
RASCAL FLATTS – AWARD WINS
2000 – Academy of Country Music – Top New Vocal Duo Or Group (presented 2001)
2002 – Country Music Association – Horizon Award
2002 – Academy of Country Music – Song of the Year (“I’m Movin’ On”) (presented 2003)
2002 – Academy of Country Music – Top Vocal Group (presented 2003)
2003 – CMT Flameworthy – Video Music Award for Group/Duo of the Year (“These Days”)
2003 – Country Music Association – Vocal Group of the Year
2003 – Academy of Country Music – Top Vocal Group (presented 2004)
2004 – CMT Flameworthy – Music Video Award for Group/Duo of the Year (“I Melt”)
2004 – Country Music Association – Vocal Group
2004 – Academy of Country Music – Top Vocal Group (presented 2005)
2005 – CMT Music Award – Group/Duo of the Year (“Feels Like Today”)
2005 – Country Music Association – Vocal Group of the Year
2005 – Academy of Country Music – Top Vocal Group (presented 2006)
2005 – Radio Music Award – Song of the Year/Country Radio (“Bless The Broken Road”)
2005 – Billboard – Roadworks ’05 Touring Awards for Breakthrough Act[56]
2006 – CMT Music Award – Group/Duo of the Year (“Skin (Sarabeth)”)[57]
2006 – Country Music Association – Vocal Group of the Year
2006 – American Music Award – Favorite Country Band, Duo or Group
2006 – American Music Award – T-Mobile Text-In Award
2006 – People’s Choice Award – Favorite Song from a Movie (“Life Is A Highway”)
2006 – People’s Choice Award – Favorite Song Remake (“Life Is A Highway”)
2006 – CMT Loaded Awards – Number One Digitally Active Group/Duo
2006 – CMT Loaded Awards – Number One Streamed Music Video (“What Hurts the Most”)
2006 – Grammy Award – Best Country Song (“Bless the Broken Road”); songwriter award
2007 – CMT Music Award – Group Video of the Year (“What Hurts the Most”)
2007 – Academy of Country Music – Top Vocal Group (presented 2008)
2007 – Country Music Association – Vocal Group of the Year
2007 – American Music Award – Favorite Country Band, Duo or Group
2007 – BMI – Song of The Year (“What Hurts The Most”)
2008 – People’s Choice Awards – Favorite Country Song (“Stand”)
2008 – CMT Music Award – Group Video of the Year (“Take Me There”)
2008 – Academy of Country Music – Top Vocal Group (presented 2009)
2008 – Academy of Country Music – Humanitarian Award
2008 – Country Music Association – Vocal Group of the Year
2008 – American Music Award – Favorite Country Band, Duo or Group
2009 – People’s Choice Award – Favorite Group
2009 – CMT Music Award – Group Video of the Year (“Every Day”)
2010 – Star on the Music City Walk of Fame
2010 – American Country Award – Decade Artist award
2011 – Tony Martell Lifetime Entertainment Achievement Award
2011 – CMT Music Award – for Collaborative Video of the Year (“That Should Be Me”)
2011 – Member of the Grand Ole Opry
2012 – CRS 2012 – Artist Humanitarian Award
2012 – Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
2013 – Academy of Country Music – Jim Reeves International Award (presented 2014)