Joe Don Rooney has been part of Rascal Flatts for 25 years. It might not have ever happened, however, without Vince Gill. Rooney's musical aspirations, from childhood, trace back to Gill, and his fourth studio album, out in 1991.
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"I think Vince Gill's Pocket Full of Gold was one of them that I remember hearing the first time thinking, 'My gosh, this guy can do it all,'" Rooney recalls. "It had that bluegrass, high lonesome sound to it. It had straight down the middle country, and had a little edge of rock to there. You know, it had all the stuff that I loved about music on one album."
Rooney met his fellow Rascal Flatts' members Jay DeMarcus and Gary LeVox, while Rooney was playing in Chely Wright's band. Rooney filled in for another guitarist, when DeMarcus and LeVox had a gig in Nashville. The three immediately clicked, and Rascal Flatts was born that night.
Joe Don Rooney's Sobriety
Rooney celebrated three years of sobriety last September, after receiving an unfortunate wake-up call. In 2021, Rooney was in a car accident, and subsequently charged with a DUI. It was what Rooney needed to turn his life around.
"My life and career took a major detour at 4:00 AM in the early morning hours of Sept. 9, 2021 when I ran square into a tree and about killed myself," Rooney shares. "I was drunk and I was so far gone with my life - I was completely out of control and finished with trying to fight the fears, depression and anxieties that had spun me out in a way I've never experienced before.
"My drinking had been an issue for many years - and as they say in AA and treatment, it's a progressive disease," he continues. "I am living proof that the progressive nature of drinking can really ratchet up and as I grew older as an adult my drinking grew worse."
Rascal Flatts is currently headlining their Life Is A Highway Tour. Their Life Is A Highway: Refueled Duets album will be ou ton June 6.
