Why Rascal Flatts Decided To Break Up + More Country Music News

After 20 years together, Rascal Flatts announced in January that they would be stepping out of the spotlight after a farewell tour (now canceled of course) and a year of celebrating their two decades as a band.

It wasn't a decision they took lightly,

Last Fall Jay DeMarcus and bandmates Gary LeVox and Joe Don Rooney sat around a table at their management office, DeMarcus recalls. They knew their record deal with Big Machine Label Group was coming up for renewal, as was a touring deal with Live Nation.

"The more we got into it, the more we started to look at each other and go, 'This has been a wonderful 20 years,'" he recounts. "'Why don't we, at this point in our career, take some time to celebrate with our friends and our family next year, really blow it out, and then take some time to lay this down for a while to pursue some of our individual desires and some of the things we want to do before we're too old to do it.'"
On Friday (Oct. 2), Rascal Flatts will release a greatest hits album as part of their farewell celebration. The record features 13 of their No. 1 songs and seven other fan favorites.

Maren Morris and Kane Brown are among the half-dozen performers scheduled for the 2020 CMT Music Awards. The television network announced the show's first round of performers yesterday.

Additionally, Ashley McBryde, Dan + Shay, Little Big Town and Luke Bryan are all on the performers list for this year's show. All six of the artists are nominated in at least one category at the 2020 event: McBryde and Dan + Shay are both three-time nominees; Morris, Brown and Little Big Town each have two nominations; and Bryan earned one nod.

The 2020 CMT Music Awards were rescheduled from June. The show will now air on Oct. 21 at 9 pm on  CMT and other channels and will feature, "epic outdoor performances in and around Music City."
Three years after a gunman opened fire at a country music festival, the victims and their families will get restitution. A judge has approved an $800 million settlement, ending a class action lawsuit.

The settlement was announced in 2019, with 2,500 people said to be part of the lawsuit. CNN updates that number to more than 4,000. The judge approved the settlement on Wednesday (Sept. 30), one day before the three-year anniversary of the shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. The money will be split up after a 30-day period to allow for appeals.

Q106.5 Country Music News Weekday Mornings at 8 20.