Jay DeMarcus Responds To Fans’ ‘Burning Questions’ About Rascal Flatts
Jay DeMarcus, who is best known as the bassist of Rascal Flatts, recently reflected on his time in the band…
Rascal Flatts; Photo by Andrew Wendowski
Jay DeMarcus, who is best known as the bassist of Rascal Flatts, recently reflected on his time in the band and revealed his hopes to reunite with bandmates Joe Don Rooney and Gary LeVox in the future.
On Wednesday, January 4, DeMarcus hosted an Instagram Live Q&A, where he answered fans’ “burning questions” and elaborated upon several topics, including what he’s been up to since the disbandment of Rascal Flatts, his current role as the CEO/Owner of Red Street Records, performing with Generation Radio, and more.
Since departing Rascal Flatts, DeMarcus has been spending quality time with his family as well as diving head first into Red Street Records to launch the careers of Ryan Griffin, Neon Union and more.
In addition, the 51-year-old father of two also co-founded Generation Radio, a supergroup made up of DeMarcus, Chicago’s former lead singer, Jason Scheff, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ drummer, Steve Ferrone, and Chris Rodriguez and Tom Yankton, who hit the road and released their debut album.
One of the questions that fans continually asked throughout the chat was “will Rascal Flatts reunite?”. DeMarcus didn’t shy away from answering.
Will Rascal Flatts Reunite?
“Everybody’s wanting to know, again, we know you’re making records and playing with Generation Radio, but would you ever come back and do a Rascal Flatts tour if one were to happen?” DeMarcus explained, before elaborating, “The answer is, in a perfect world, they both exist together. I’ve never picked one over the other. I love doing both. Rascal Flatts is my baby with Joe Don [Rooney] and Gary [LeVox], we’ve built that from the ground up. It’ll always be a part of who I am and I live it. I breathe it.”
He went on to share gratitude for all that Rascal Flatts’ has brought into his life and revealed that he has high hopes that the group will one day take the stage together again.
“Every time I hear a Rascal Flatts’ song on the radio, I remember exactly where I was when we recorded it. I remember exactly where I was when it went No. 1. So many of my life’s monumental moments have wrapped around our career and moments that we’ve shared together. And being at the GRAMMYs and having the career we’ve had has been the greatest thing I could ever have hoped for in a professional sense. So yes, I would love to hope and think that when we left Falls View Casino in Canada in March of 2020, that that will not be the last time the three of us will be on stage together somewhere.”
While he remains optimistic, DeMarcus also admitted that he hasn’t communicated with his Rascal Flatts’ bandmates, Gary LeVox and Joe Don Rooney, on a regular basis.
“We haven’t spoken or stayed in touch a lot, so it has felt like we’ve been siblings that have sort of been separated by oceans or in other states or across the country. There’s no bad blood.”
DeMarcus then detailed that he, LeVox and Rooney are all focusing on their own individual career paths, however, he continued to share his hopes to reunite with the trio.
“We’re just on different pages right now and Gary is concentrating very much on his solo career. Joe Don is in a really good place, but Joe Don is on his own journey right now too. And I’ve been on my own journey with Generation Radio and all that I’ve had to pour into Red Street Records,” he continued. ”But the bottom line is that I love my brothers in Rascal Flatts and I want nothing but the best for them and I believe any other family that needs, ‘everybody needs a little time away.’ Everybody does need a little time away. And I think that if the good Lord willing, we should get back together someday, and we’ll have a greater appreciation for it, maybe more than we ever did. So, that would be my hope and my prayer.”
During the chat, he also reflected on his favorite Rascal Flatts song and reflected on what made the band so successful.
“This answer’s always been easy for me because I feel like it’s a reflection of what our strengths were as Rascal Flatts and the strength of a song and what its power is when you find the right act to record the right song and it’s ‘God Bless The Broken Road.’ My favorite moments on stage with those two guys were, when we were together around the piano, Joe Don [Rooney] playing acoustic and us singing ‘Broken Road’ together. I loved hearing the buzz of our voices together on the chorus because I will always say that you can’t manufacture a blend.”
He continued, “Gary and I are related. We’re cousins, and there is a natural blend harmonically that happens with the timbre of our voices together that you can’t replicate by pulling two random great singers together. You have to have it instinctually. And when we found Joe Don, he fit in with us like he had lived with us in his entire life, and that is the truth. He blended with us vocally like he was one of us. Like he was a sibling. I think the thing that caused us to stop in our tracks was that we realized instantaneously that what was coming back out of the speakers when we sang together was something unlike we’d ever heard before. And we knew that it was special and that maybe we had some lightning in a bottle.”
DeMarcus said there is nothing like hearing their voices blend on the ballad, which was co-written by Marcus Hummon, Bobby Boyd, and Jeff Hanna.
“And so for me, when we sing the chorus of ‘Broken Road’ together, that’s kind of the best of who we are in that moment. And I absolutely love, love, love performing that song over the years with those guys and what it’s meant to people’s lives and their journey and either coming out of divorce and finding the right life partner then, or it being the first dance at a wedding or coming down the aisle to it. It’s been an incredible journey with that song.”
The Members Of Rascal Flatts Part Ways
Gary LeVox also weighed in on the topic if the band will reunite in the future during an interview with US Weekly.
“[We] haven’t had any conversations,” LeVox said of what lies ahead for a potential reunion. “I don’t know what the future holds, but you know. For now, I’m just having a blast, and … I think Jay and Joe Don are doing their thing … So, we’ll see. Who knows?”
“We don’t talk as much … cause, you know, we’re not doing business together…. We wish each other the best … [I] want nothing but the best for those two and, you know, hopefully, everything’s happy and healthy, and their families are good,” LeVox added.
Joe Don Rooney has largely remained out of the spotlight as he is currently going through a messy divorce from his wife Tiffany Fallon.
In October of 2021, LeVox revealed that Rascal Flatts have broken up during an interview with PEOPLE. At the time, Gary LeVox opened up about the demise of the award-winning trio, admitting to the publication that he is unhappy with how the band ended, before revealing that Jon Don Rooney quit the group.
“I’ve never been okay with the way that it ended,” LeVox confessed. “I was never okay with…” the singer added, before pausing to think what to say next. Then revealing, “I wasn’t happy that Joe Don [Rooney] quit.”
LeVox continued to share that Rooney’s departure was unexpected, then the global health crisis shut the world down, which ultimately forced everything to be canceled, including their 2020 farewell tour. The dates for the farewell tour were never rescheduled, and the “Summer Nights” singers ultimately called it quits altogether.
“It kind of came out of nowhere,” LeVox continued, referencing Rooney’s exit. “It was like, ‘Let me try to wrap my head around this.’ And then I certainly wasn’t okay with the pandemic, which canceled everything. I hate the way that it ended. I hate that we didn’t get to do this farewell tour. I can’t stand the fact that it just feels there’s no closure with something that we’ve been so blessed with. That will always be in my heart.”
Rascal Flatts, founded in 2000, the trio is one of the most successful country groups of all time with 17 No.1 singles and more than 23.4 million albums sold. Rascal Flatts has earned more than 40 trophies from ACA, ACM, AMA, CMA, People’s Choice and more, cementing the band as the most-awarded country group of the past decade.
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