On Thursday morning, police arrested Rascal Flatts guitarist Joe Don Rooney near Franklin, Tennessee after crashing his vehicle into a tree line on Hillsboro Road. He was subsequently charged with driving under the influence.
Williamson County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the incident and said that a deputy responded to the area shortly after 4 a.m. The singer-guitarist, who currently resides in Nashville, was then booked into Williamson County Jail – but was released several hours later on a $2,500 bond.
As of writing, it is not known if Rooney has suffered any injuries. Rascal Flatts’ representative declined to give any comments as well.
Rascal Flatts was known for hits like “Bless The Broken Road,” “I Like The Sound of That,” and their famous cover of “Life Is A Highway.”
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Rooney helped found the best-selling country music trio in 1999, together with second cousins Gary LeVox and Jay DeMarcus. In January 2020, Rascal Flatts announced they would be disbanding after their two-decade run and would embark on a farewell tour. However, it was later canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the band eventually announced that they had no plans to reschedule it “for the foreseeable future.”
Throughout their career, Rascal Flatts’ enjoyed major successes beginning in 2000. The band managed to rack up over thirty Top 10 singles on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, in which fourteen of them are No. 1 hits. Their signature sound of mixing country tradition with pop and rock has been a favorite to many, helping the band sell more than a whopping twenty million albums.
On top of that, Rascal Flatts was hailed as the Vocal Group of the Year by CMA Country Music Association – not only once, but every year between 2003 and 2008. They also joined the Music City Walk of Fame in 2010 and the Hollywood Walk of Fame two years later.
And just last month, the band received the Cliffie Stone Icon Award from the Academy of Country Music. Rooney accepted the award at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, together with former bandmate Jay DeMarcus.
