Rascal Flatts’ Joe Don Rooney Charged With DUI
Rascal Flatts member Joe Don Rooney was charged with driving under the influence following an incident in Williamson County, Tenn., early Thursday morning (Sept. 9).
Both the Tennessean newspaper and Nashville's WSMV-TV are reporting the news. Per both sources, Rooney was arrested by a member of the Williamson County Sheriff's Office at about 4AM local time on Thursday morning, after crashing his vehicle into a tree on the 1200 block of Hillsboro Road, near Fieldstone Park, which is located just north of Franklin, Tenn. Franklin is about 20 miles south of Nashville, where Rooney lives.
Rooney was booked into the Williamson County Jail around 7:20AM local time, and released on $2,500 bond at about 10:17AM local time. It is unclear if he suffered any injuries in the crash, and no further details are available at this time.
Rascal Flatts came onto the mainstream country music scene in 2000 with their debut single, "Prayin' for Daylight." Rooney met his bandmates, Jay DeMarcus and Gary LeVox — who are cousins — while he and DeMarcus were playing as members of Chely Wright's band; when DeMarcus and LeVox needed a fill-in guitarist for a gig at a nightclub in Nashville's Printer's Alley, DeMarcus asked Rooney to play with them, and Rascal Flatts were born.
At the start of 2020, DeMarcus, LeVox and Rooney announced that they would spend the year on a farewell tour, effectively retiring as Racal Flatts at the end of the year. The COVID-19 pandemic halted those plans, but the band did still release a new single, as well as a greatest hits project.
In late August, Rascal Flatts were honored with the Cliffie Stone Icon Award during the 2021 ACM Honors. Only DeMarcus and Rooney appeared to accept the award.
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