(Note: Criteria, Scoring and Rationale for this series may be found here.)
Rascal Flatts
(93.8 pts):
- 2 Top 10 hits
- 2 Top 20
- 12 Top 40
- 22Top 100 hits
- “What Hurts the Most” peaked at #6 in 2006
As long as there’s been the Billboard Top 100, there’s been country music.
For large stretches of time, it bubbles underneath the Top 10 with little notice, while “cooler” types of music dominate:
Hair metal,
EDM,
and disco, to name a few.
There are dozens of country artists who were superstars in their Nashville-centric universe who never hit the Top 10.
For example, here’s a list of country stars from a random 2004 Billboard chart:
- Little Big Town: 13 Top 100 hits in their career (peaked at #18)
- Sugarland: 15 (peaked at #17)
- Billy Currington: 17 (#27)
- Montgomery Gentry: 18 (#30)
- Trace Adkins: 20 (#12)
- Miranda Lambert: 25 (#19)
- Dierks Bentley: 29 (#22)
- George Strait: 37 (#23)
- Toby Keith: 39 (#15)
- Brad Paisley: 40 (#28)
- Keith Urban: 46 (#16)
And Kenny Chesney: 58 (#16.)
FIFTY-EIGHT TOP 100 HITS.
For comparison, The Beatles only have fourteen more.
But for a country artist to break into the top 10, there has to be some unusual circumstances.
- For example, Ronnie Milsap broke into the Top 10 with his #5 hit, “(There’s) No Gettin’ Over Me” in the wake of disco’s demise. (It’s a 7).
- Shania Twain rockified her sound with the help of her husband/manager “Mutt” Lange and hit the Top 10 three times, including #2’s “You’re Still the One” (Stereogum reviewer Tom Breihan gave it an 8). The videos didn’t hurt those songs either.
- Carrie Underwood rode the American Idol tsunami to #1 with “Inside Your Heaven” and a few more Top 10 hits.
Then: there’s Rascal Flatts’ biggest hit “What Hurts the Most:”
And for the life of me: I can’t figure out why.
Rascal Flatts has a number of similarities as The Chicks: they’re a trio who came to Nashville to find their fame. However, while The Chicks worked for years to achieve success, Rascal Flatts had success almost immediately.
Ohioan Jay DeMarcus moved to Nashville in 1992 and charted with his CCM group East to West After they broke up, he moved into production.
During one session he called his second cousin Gary LeVox for some assistance, so Gary followed him there in ‘97. DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney played together in Chely Wright’s band (16 country hits, two Top 100.)
One night, the cousins were to play yet another show on Printer’s Alley when their other guitarist couldn’t make it. DeMarcus called Rooney to join them that night, and the trio clicked.
The unnamed band signed with Disney’s Nashville subsidiary Lyric Street in 1999, then went to play a show at the Fiddle and Steel Guitar Bar.
They asked the audience for some help in picking a name, and a spectator nicknamed Jelly Roll said:
“I had a band in the 60s. We did bar mitzvahs and high school dances.”
“And we called ourselves Rascal Flatts.”
Bar patron and renowned serendipitous Nomenclator Jelly Roll
The band liked it, wrote a contract on a napkin for Jelly Roll and bought the rights to the name for $5,000.
Within four months, the band had released their first single, “Prayin’ for Daylight”, a #3 country hit and #38 on the Top 100.
Four singles were released of their self-titled debut, the same for their follow-ups Melt and Feels Like Today. Every one of those twelve singles made the Top 40, and their cultural imprint was huge – in fact, Feels Like Today was the tenth-best selling album of the year.
They just needed a big single to get over the top.
In his article What Makes Country, Country?, tnocs.com Contributing Author Bill “Virgindog” Bois explains: that while the rest of the music industry has moved away from professional songwriters, Nashville continues to have an industry behind the artists. And “What Hurts the Most” is no different.
It was written by Jeffrey Steele and Steve Robson, both songwriting veterans with entirely different backgrounds.
Steele was born Jeffrey LaVasseur in California who began his music career as a boy rewriting commercial jingles he saw on television.
His dad worked as a steel processor, so after his death in 1987 Jeffrey changed his last name to Steele to honor his memory, something he would revisit for “What Hurts the Most.”
In his late 20s he created the California country band Boy Howdy, which saw minor success. The band broke up in 1996, and Steele found his niche writing hits for other country artists.
Robson, on the other hand, was from Newcastle, England.
He’d cut his teeth in the late 1990s writing hits for boy and girl bands like Westlife, Honeyz and Atomic Kitten.
The two of them first teamed up to write “These Days” with songwriter Danny Wells, and Rascal Flatts took it to #1 on the country charts. It was the first #1 for all of them, though not the last.
In the wake of that success, Robson sent Steele some music to listen to, and after a few months Steele wrote some lyrics to honor his father, then changed the words to become a more universal love song. In 2003 Mark Wills recorded it for his album And the Crowd Goes Wild.
Wills’ version wasn’t released as a single.
A couple years later Jo O’Meara, formerly of English boy/girl group S Club 7, recorded a version of it that was an English hit.
And then producer Dann Huff encouraged Rascal Flatts to record it for their next album, Me and My Gang.
It is… not good.
The singer lost their loved one, and they don’t care if they don’t have a roof over their head, the rain will just mix with the tears. They never should’ve gotten so close, and left so many things unsaid before their ex left their lives.
Rascal Flatts slowed the song down from previous versions, and LeVox’s vocals are soaked in emotion.
While the lyrics hint this person left the relationship by choice, the way he sings it and the video take it a step further – their ex left because they died.
A lot of songs about the death of a loved one have hit #1:
- Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind” was rewritten after Princess Diana’s death and became the biggest selling single in history (Tom gave it a 5)…
- Puff Daddy’s interpolation of The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” hit #1 in 1997 as well (it’s a 4)…
- And Mark Dinning’s “Teen Angel” from 1960 (a 9.)
These are all better than “What Hurts the Most.”
Shawn Silva was called in to direct the melodramatic video. It’s a five-and-a-half minute ABC afternoon special.
The opening scene is a girl screaming at her dad. “YOU DID THIS!!!”, before collapsing into his lap crying. The boyfriend is gone, and the music hasn’t even kicked in yet.
In between shots of the band in the California desert, the plot plays out: the boyfriend is dead, killed in a car accident. There’s a flashback of the couple in their happier days, asking each other what they see in the future. He jokes about it, and she runs off without answering.
Later we see her looking at an empty desk in class, tears streaming down her face. She runs out of class into the bathroom, where she heaves into a toilet…is she pregnant as well?
We’re back at her dad’s house, where she storms out and runs to where her boyfriend died. Kneeling, crying over the cross on the side of the road, she finally answers him:
*End scene*
My wife still gets teary-eyed watching this damn video, so I guess it served its purpose: the song rocketed up the charts to #6, and remained on the Billboard Top 100 for 51 weeks.
Rascal Flatts continued their 2006 success with a countrified remake of Tom Cochrane’s 1991 “Life is a Highway” from the Cars soundtrack. It hit #7, one spot lower than the original (it’s a 5; two lower than Cochrane’s version).
And with that, Rascal Flatts’ foray into the Top 10 was over.
Over the next fourteen years they would have eight #1s on the country charts (and three #2s), but the closest they came to a return to the Top 10 was with 2009’s “Here Comes Goodbye”. Another sappy video from Silva, it hit #11. In 2020, Rascal Flatts decided to call it quits, and each of the band members moved onto different projects.
Besides “What Hurts the Most,” Jeffrey Steele’s songwriting career looks similar to the other country artists I mentioned at the beginning:
60 country hits, including seven #1’s, and 23 Billboard Top 100 songs.
Robson continues to write and produce hits for artists in Nashville and the UK, including one James Blunt, who you may remember (Tom gave “You’re Beautiful” a 2; there’s no need to post a link to the song).
I have looked everywhere to find out who the actors are from the video.
The father is James C. Burns, who has over a hundred credits on his IMDB page, including his voice acting as Sergeant Frank Woods for the Call of Duty series.
The son is Michael Sullivan, who had a few bits parts in 7th Heaven and Nash Bridges.
But the daughter?
No one seems to know who she was.
I’ve read it was Krystle Hernandez (unknown), Sarah Polley (definitely not), Amber Marshall (of Heartland fame) or Candice Accola (The Vampire Diaries), but no one has accepted responsibility.
One fan even reached out to the father, who responded on Instagram that he couldn’t remember.
As for Shawn Silva, I’d love to say he peaked with 2013’s 30 For 30 short called “The Irrelevant Giant”, about Bill Parcells’ first year as coach of the New York Giants and John Tuggle, their last player drafted.
Unfortunately, country music went back to bubbling under on the pop charts. Silva continued to make lots and lots of videos for the Nashville stars, including one Jason Aldean. In 2023, country music returned to the Top 10 with a vengeance, and Tom’s going to have to deal with a few of them…including one directed by Silva.
GRADE: 3/10
TRIVIA: In 1976, William Bell hit the #10 with his #1 R&B smash “Trying to Love Two”, but Tom didn’t rate that song. Tom mentioned him once – which 80s star remade one of his songs?
Snow Patrol hit #5 with 2006’s “Chasing Cars”, but never did much else on the Billboard charts. They were much more successful across the pond – their UK #5 hit “Run” was covered by Leona Lewis, who hit #81 with it in the U.S.
BONUS BEATS: Eagles fan Taylor Swift invited Rascal Flatts on stage with her in Nashville a decade ago. Surprisingly, Tom has never mentioned Taylor Swift.
KIDDING. (Tom will eventually have to talk about Swift…a lot.)
BONUS BONUS BEATS: Eurodance stars Cascada took “What Hurts the Most”, sped it up, synthesized the orchestra and beats to create the most successful version overseas. It also hit #52 in the States.
(Cascada’s highest-charting Hot 100 hit is 2005’s “Everytime We Touch,” which peaked at #10. It’s a 7.)
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A lot of songs about the death of a loved one have hit #1
Or songs about one’s own death-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw5wdXjTgFc
Sorry, that’s all I’ve got today. I thought I had a really good Rascal Flatts story, but turns out it was Brooks & Dunn. Well, on second thought, I did sing “God Bless the Broken Road” at a wedding once, and it’s actually not a bad song at all. I lied. I had something after all.
I like Brooks and Dunn. Rascal Flatts is hit and Miss for me. Their Cochrane cover is fine, if pointless. I do like Here Comes Goodbye because the singer is fully invested in his drama queen approach.
I knew someone who was a huge fan of RF. They went to the shows, bought the records, and wore the baseball shirt.
And so I did my due diligence; I tried with these guys. But just about everything they did sounded overproduced and too pitch-corrected. It never seemed real, and the passion seemed contrived.
It’s like my litmus test for a movie actor performance: Do I believe what I’m seeing, or am I just watching someone pretend to be a character?
I’m sure that they are good people. But for this artist, I have to take a pass.
“Overproduced and too pitch-corrected?” Welcome to Nashville.
Well, on the major labels, anyway. There are some really talented people here but the labels play it safe.
I notice that the vocal rhythm used in this song is not far from Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town.” Has that become a thing in country pop?
Was it the influence of rock songs like Nickelback’s “How You Remind Me?” Or is it the other way round?
In any event, this type of cookie cutter stadium-rock take on country inevitably falls flatt for me.
Another example of that vocal rhythm that popped in my head was Faith Hill’s “This Kiss,” which is much better pop than this one, though perhaps it owes some sort of debt.
I learned yesterday in The Number Ones comments section that Aldean’s song copies Three Doors Down.
Check out Pat Finnerty’s “Why This Song Sucks”, which is amazing. It’s also an hour, so set aside some time!
https://youtu.be/jeJXF55HXRI?si=s8kpd1edg9pXBbot
I saw the beginning of that, and I think my old buddy is interviewed in it. I can definitely hear “Kryptonite” in the music, but I think the vocal rhythm comes from Nickelback more than 3 Doors Down. Jason just loves his early 00s earnest radio rock.
I felt a little depressed when 3 Doors Down performed at the former president’s inauguration. I kind of liked them.
When I think of teenage death songs, I always think of this first
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9an7z71zZVk
Hated this as a child and still do, but yes, a good example.
The followup is even worse. I may be writing about that one soon. Stay tuned.
THERE’S A FOLLOW-UP???
Well, not thematically to that song, but yes, the artist did hit the Top 40 (even the Top 20) again.
“Run Joey Run” was a bad Lifetime movie; I believe the follow-up is an even worse Hallmark one.
It’s called “Maybe She Should’ve Run Too Instead of Wasting Her Breath on Joey”.
Two more death #1s-
Leader of the Pack
Honey
Leader of the Pack is a classic. Honey is what I want to play to induce vomiting.
If we ever take a poll of worst #1s of all time, Honey will be in the conversation for sure. Brutally bad.
Wasn’t it in Shocker’s final 4 of the worst of the ’60s?
The grandaddy of teenage death songs is this one. You’re probably more familiar with one of the big hit covers, but I always think of the original. It was a favorite of my aunt & uncle, who went to a Wayne Cochran concert for their first date.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akulUIpIwgc
Not quite the same thing, but here’s a hip death tune where the teen/young adult status seems implied:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMbRV5d7TeY
Also, not quite the same; I don’t think teenagers are implied. But still pretty powerful.
https://youtu.be/tf4d7VxcQ30?si=YAMy56GNuqIs9mTw
Some pre-teens in the death mix there, which is kind of horrifying.
My favorite death song. We don’t know who died, but it’s a good excuse for great music. The opening dialogue is priceless.
Dead Man Blues – Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers – 1926 (youtube.com)
I see you brought this full circle: songs about death, and the origin of Rascal Flatts. Well played.
I may have mentioned this before, but when I was around 12, my friends and I found this 45 in the grass near a lake by our house.
No surprise, Rascal Flatts have failed to make an impact on the country averse British top 40. At least I’d heard their name, even if I assumed that it was one guy. I’ve watched the What Hurts The Most video, I won’t be going back for more. For a band with Rascal in their name I’d expect something that sounds rougher round the edges, a bit of character.
I’m concerned at their business acumen as well. They paid $5,000 to obtain the name?! Well done Jelly Roll for rinsing the unimaginative suckers.
At least I’d heard their name, even if I assumed that it was one guy.
Aww, kind of like the parents of teenagers in the 70s that thought Led Zeppelin was a guy’s name.
My first exposure to Rascal Flatts was when they performed on American Idol, and one of the Television Without Pity message board denizens said that they were basically a country boy band, put together (or at least promoted) in the hopes of duplicating in Nashville what the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC did in Orlando. (AND THE WORLD.) My immediate thought was a very Ann Veal-style “… them?”
The thing is, I have no idea whether this was actually true. But even if it’s not, it has shaped my interaction with Rascal Flatts ever since. (This dynamic will come into play when the Mothership gets to Olivia Rodrigo’s breakout single.) They are… aggressively miquetoast, actively passive. The songs are bland and pandering — blandering? — and le vox is an almost instant station-switch when I’m rolling through my radio presets. They’re not the most eye-rolling of radio country acts, but they may be the most radio country. God bless the broken road that keeps them from me.
Television Without Pity!!
I haven’t heard that in years. Always was lots of fun.
Same… I used to love their episode recaps of “Lost” and “American Idol”. The latter is why I can’t hear “Makes Me Wonder” without thinking of Adam Levine looking like a coat rack.
I’ve never got the appeal to this guys and their cover version of “Life is a Highway” (one of my most irrationally loved songs) made me dislike them more.
@thegue I really loved your piece about The Chicks, I wish I was able to comment when it was posted, but I’m very delayed in my readings.
To me, Rascal Flatts symbolizes a lot of what’s been wrong with country music the last 25 years or so. Overproduced, cliched lyrics, vocals that come across as faux Southern, ugh. Having them come in third on this list has already got me moving on to looking forward to who we have at number two.
I don’t much care for country. I don’t like this band. I specifically don’t like this guy’s voice. And yet, I love this song. It made me cry the first time I heard it on the radio. I didn’t see the video until long after, and it didn’t enhance my response- in fact, it took me out of the song a bit, and I prefer just the audio. There is some background to my attachment to it having to do with my very strange sojourn in American ldol fanfic, but that postdated and intensified my response; it didn’t create it.
I wish I could explain. I’ve mentioned before that my husband, who’s no more technically educated in music than I am, has what we call the Old Man River theory- that the songs that make me cry probably all have something in common with Old Man River. I’d love to know if this applies. I do know that the parts of the song that hit me hardest are the pre-chorus, the “Yeah, yeah” bit before the break, and the “SOOOO close” afterward. 🤷
Hey, Brigit! Good to see you here.
I really don’t like much of what passes for country these days. It mostly just seems like more bad pop music. Sometimes it’s got a bit of country flavor, but it doesn’t feel very country to me.
Bingo.
So did current pop star Jelly Roll have to pay the Jelly Roll mentioned here $5000 to call himself Jelly Roll? And did either of them get the permission of the estate of Jelly Roll Morton?
Thank you, I wondered the same thing!!
Actually, when I first read Jelly Roll mentioned I was like – hold up, that dude did NOT look that old when I saw him on the CMA’s or some other show here the other month… 😆
Answer to your trivia: When someone brings up WIlliam Bell, I must give up all dignity and go overboard proclaiming my fandom for one of the finest soul singers (and songwriters) of the 1960’s. Warm-voiced and empathetic, his restraint made for great records, but it also means that he is overlooked when people remember the era. He did not have the grit of his Stax label mates.
The first recording I ever heard by the man opened a “Best Of…” collection, and it’s my favorite of his. “I Forgot to Be Your Lover” begins with a shimmering Steve Cropper guitar lick before going into the Stax rhythm section’s most flowing performance. Others have mentioned Bell’s country-inflected cadences (his “You Don’t Miss Your Water” was covered by the Byrds on the country-rock milestone Sweetheart of the Rodeo), and that quality is in full display here as he gently expresses his apology. There’s nothing quite like this recording.
I Forgot To Be Your Lover – YouTube
12 or 13 years before I heard William Bell, one Billy Idol was in the middle of a string of hits. I wasn’t a fan, although one cannot deny the catchiness and craft of some of the hits. My favorite was called “To Be a Lover,” mostly because of its R&B pulse and Richard Tee’s unique piano splashes. I didn’t recognize it as a cover of the Bell song for several years after being introduced to the original – Idol’s version is in a totally different style. I’m more generous towards Idol now, first because he had the great taste to pick a great song to cover (giving Bell some extra cash in his later years) and because I appreciate how hard performers have to hustle to make a living. I’m also more forgiving towards Dr. Hook these days (their version of “Only Sixteen” was the first I knew).
Billy Idol – To Be A Lover (Official Music Video) – YouTube
I just saw Billy Idol in concert a couple years ago, he still sounds terrific, and I was quite giddy to get to see Steve Stevens play live in person. Knowing To Be a Lover was a cover makes so much more sense to me now though, because it was always a puzzle piece the never fit the overall lip-sneer vibe of Billy’s catalog, too funny!
See, this is why I don’t make any jangle pop recommendations to you. I’m the one who needed lightening up. I listened to Kix recently.
When Logan put together a best-of-first generation music videos list, I wanted to chime in about leaving off “Dancin’ with Myself”. I’m glad I didn’t. To each is own. Billy Idol was acceptable to young emerging music snobs.
Country songs out of Nashville are products of a machine. They all seem so formulaic, but in the right hands it can convey a fascinating mini-movie. And I do so love me a good story song.
I was at a loss with Rascal Flatts though, and their success. They never struck me as legit good ol country boys, they seemed fake. It never sat well with me. So that definitely tainted my view of them. What Hurts The Most was them just trying too hard to be all sincere in attempting a Story Song, it left a terrible aftertaste. Then they butcher ‘Life Is a Highway’, and that really annoyed me.
Tom Cochrane’s OG Life is a Highway is a stone cold 10 all day for me; I’m being generous giving RF’s version a 2.
(For the record, Red Riders “Lunatic Fringe” is a 9. Pairs well with Life is a Highway I think!)
Someday I’ll get caught up on your entries for the rest of the Top 10, thegue, quite an interesting topic that’s for sure. Imm very curious who #1 will be….!
I like the original “Life is a Highway” okay, I’d probably give it a 7. But “Lunatic Fringe” is a bone-chilling 10 any day.
One thing I’ve picked up from TNOCS (and a shout out goes to Bix Meister for this, who got me to download the entire 1970s Stevie Wonder discography) is a respect for all genres of music.
But I just can’t with Rascal Flatts. I couldn’t get thru 3 secs of any of the above videos after they started.
I tried. I can’t.
The Chicks…yep, I could. Respect for them.
But not this nothingness.
I love this song! First, I have an odd soft spot for vaguely countryish rock/vaguely rockish country music, and second, it actually reminds me of someone who did die (my former work husband who I developed a never mentioned or reciprocated crush on at about the same time he was developing terminal cancer) and so it (along with the similar genre “The Dance” by Garth Brooks) has been known to make me cry at numerous inappropriate times (in the car with my mom looking at me suspiciously, while out with this guy’s widow, to name two).
There’s my walk down memory lane for today – you all are going to be sorry I created an account. 😀
Hello and Good Welcome to tnocs.com, @allybear !