Jay DeMarcus Would Love to Play With Rascal Flatts Again

As Rascal Flatts announced their breakup in 2020, they planned an extensive tour to say goodbye — and after the COVID-19 pandemic stymied those plans, both the bandmates and their fans couldn't help but feel like they were missing out on some closure.

The country trio never rescheduled their reunion tour, but in an Instagram Live Q&A from Jan. 4, bassist Jay DeMarcus says he's not shutting the door on the idea of one day sharing a stage again with his band mates, Gary LeVox and Joe Don Rooney. In response to a fan question about whether or not Rascal Flatts will ever reunite, DeMarcus said he hopes so, and underscored how important that era of his career is to him.

Ideally, he'd like to hold space for Rascal Flatts to reunite, while also pursuing his career at the helm of Red Street Records and performing in his current classic rock supergroup, Generation Radio.

"The answer is, in a perfect world, they both exist together," DeMarcus muses (quotes via Music Mayhem.) "I've never picked one over the other. I love doing both. Rascal Flatts is my baby with Joe Don [Rooney] and Gary [LeVox], we've built that from the ground up. It'll always be a part of who I am, and I live it. I breathe it."

However, mounting a Rascal Flatts reunion tour might not be all that simple. All three of the band members would need to be on board, and in the years since their breakup, several statements from the musicians have suggested that Rooney sees the trio's breakup as final. In fall 2021, LeVox revealed in an interview with People that the band's split followed Rooney's decision to quit.

The conversation happened surrounding Rooney's September 2021 DUI arrest, a misdemeanor offense to which he subsequently pled guilty and served two days in jail.

"I think God gets your attention in different ways," LeVox commented. "I just wish him the best and I hope he gets everything that he needs to get well and take care of whatever issues he's got going on. There's power in prayer."

In January 2023, news broke that Rooney and his wife of nearly 17 years, Tiffany Fallon, were divorcing. Court documents surrounding the divorce filings revealed that LeVox and DeMarcus both testified "they would be open to touring as a band if [Rooney] would agree," but Rooney remained committed to keeping the Rascal Flatts breakup final.

In his Instagram Q&A — which took place shortly before Rooney's divorce news became public — DeMarcus extended well-wishes to his bandmates, though he said that they hadn't been in close contact in recent months.

"We haven't spoken or stayed in touch a lot, so it has felt like we've been siblings that have sort of been separated by oceans or in other states or across the country," he noted. "There's no bad blood."

He also suggested that the band's breakup all boiled down to the three artists needing time to pursue separate interests.

"The bottom line is that I love my brothers in Rascal Flatts and I want nothing but the best for them," he stated.

"... Everybody does need a little time away," DeMarcus summed up. "And I think that if the good Lord willing, we should get back together someday, and we'll have a greater appreciation for it, maybe more than we ever did. So, that would be my hope and my prayer."