Rascal Flatts' long-awaited Life Is A Highway: Refueled Duets album is out! The record marks their first in eight years, since the trio's Back to Us project came out in 2017. Life Is A Highway: Refueled Duets includes collaborations with several hitmakers, including Backstreet Boys, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton and more.
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"As much as Rascal Flatts' harmonies are as dialed into our blood as our DNA, we're also working with some great performers who showed up for us," DeMarcus told The Tennessean.
When Rascal Flatts planned on releasing an album of duets, they originally planned on inviting artists who had previously been on tour with them.
"Initially ... it was gonna be people that opened for us on tour or somebody that our music has influenced," lead singer Gary LeVox tells ABC News Radio. "And you know, it was such a long process to get it all done."
Perhaps surprisingly, it was the other artists who got to choose which song they wanted to sing.
"It was cool because we just let them kind of pick their song," Jay DeMarcus says. "And everybody landed on a different one. There was nobody fighting over the same song. It was pretty cool."
The Story Behind Rascal Flatts' "I Dare You" Duet With The Jonas Brothers
Rascal Flatts currently have a Top 30 single with "I Dare You," from Life Is A Highway: Refueled Duets. The song is the only one that is an original on the new project.
"We were putting this record together," DeMarcus recalls. "One of the people we reached out to were the Jonas Brothers, about doing one of our songs. And they said they were thrilled that we asked, but instead of doing one of our songs, they had written a song recently with Shay Mooney that they wanted to throw in the hat. And I loved the song when I first heard it. It seemed to fit what we do, and it's a really great collaboration."
With "I Dare You," and all the other songs on the project, Rascal Flatts let the guest artists choose how they wanted their song to sound.
"It was fun because we gave the artists freedom to have their own take on it, and do their own thing to the song," DeMarcus says.
