Rascal Flatts Reveal Reasons Behind Farewell Tour
Rascal Flatts have announced their farewell tour for 2020, and in a new interview, the trio—consisting of Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney—explains the reasoning behind the decision to call it a day.
The group appeared on CBS This Morning on Tuesday morning (Jan. 7), right about the time that they revealed the news of their Farewell: Life Is a Highway Tour via social media.
"When we started out 20 years ago, we could not imagine all of the people, places and gifts we would encounter," they wrote. "As we head out on the Rascal Flatts Farewell — Life Is a Highway Tour, there is no sadness. Just new chapters, new journeys, and new beginnings."
The band members clarified that none of them are sick, and that they all still get along well. They just feel that the time is right, after two decades together.
"You get to a certain part in your career where, we've been blessed to have so many hits, so many No. 1s, that you actually compete with yourself on radio," LeVox said on CBS This Morning. "And it's tough, year after year, to outdo the tour that you've done previously the year before.
"It's going to be nice to celebrate. We're going to take 12 months to celebrate our rear ends off with the people that have given us their everything."
"We haven't really had a break in 20 years," he noted. "We haven't had time to reflect. Our fans have given us so much. We've achieved so many milestones in our career."
Those milestones include a long career as one of country music's highest-grossing touring acts, as well as a string of hits that includes "These Days," "Bless the Broken Road," "Fast Cars and Freedom," "Life Is a Highway" and more. Rascal Flatts scored their most recent No. 1 hit, "Yours If You Want It," in 2017.
The trio is planning to release new music as part of a year-long goodbye, but while the three members won't rule out working together again, there's nothing else on the books beyond 2020.
"We don't have any plans right now," DeMarcus confirmed. "We want to take the year and focus on a celebration and thanking our fans for 20 wonderful years. You know, road years are like dog years. You age seven times."
"We’re not gonna sign some pact that says we’re never gonna tour again or something like that. We all still love each other," he adds.
Rascal Flatts' Farewell: Life Is a Highway Tour is slated to launch in Indianapolis on June 11 and run through Oct. 17, wrapping with a performance at the Coral Sky Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach, Fla.
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