In December 2010, Rascal Flatts Reigned at Radio With “Why Wait”

In 2010, Rascal Flatts rolled the dice with their first single on a new record label — and they hit the jackpot. After signing to Big Machine Records that July, the single steadily rose to No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, where it spent two weeks in mid-December.

The move from Lyric Street Records, which had shuttered in April 2010, built up the magnificent career of the country music trio, yet their partnership with Big Machine Records — whose biggest star at the time was Taylor Swift — sustained them for another decade. “I’m just thrilled that Taylor let us on the label,” Jay DeMarcus quipped at the signing announcement.

Inspired by The Hangover, Rascal Flatts put their comic timing to great effect in the free-wheeling music video, filmed in Las Vegas with the actor David Arquette and many, many cameos by local glitterati. (Hey, it’s Penn & Teller and Wayne Newton!)

The crowd favorite is also the 11th track on their new compilation, 20 Years of Rascal Flatts. The album was supposed to coincide with a farewell tour in 2020, until Covid-19 wrecked those plans. Still, the career-spanning collection serves as a reminder of their popularity over the last two decades.

As Gary LeVox told CMT Hot 20 Countdown, “We wanted to put it all together. It’s two decades of some of our biggest hits, and it kind of takes them down the path of two decades of Rascal Flatts music. And that’s really what it was, just a big thank you. You can never thank them enough. We love our fans so much and we just we are so blessed.”