Rascal Flatts Forced To Cancel CMA Awards Performance After Positive COVID Test

“Bless The Broken Road” is arguably one of Rascal Flatts’ greatest songs. It topped the country charts and earned a Grammy Award for Best Country Song. But, the group almost never recorded it.

In an interview earlier this year, the group shared that they initially passed on the song, saying:

“We were just like, ‘Well, we’ve got enough ballads and all that.’  Who would’ve known that it was that big, but it’s one of those things you hear it and you go, ‘Yeah. It’s really good,’ but I don’t know if we knew the realm of how giant that was.”

Flatts, who are nominated for Vocal Group of the Year during this year’s CMA Awards, was scheduled to take the awards show stage Wednesday night to perform “Bless the Broken Road” and their hit song “Life is a Highway” from the Cars movie soundtrack. Ironically, “Life is a Highway” also found a unique road to success.

The song was a remake of the 1991 Tom Cochran tune and was never officially released to country radio as a single. But, after the Cars soundtrack was released, radio deejays began to play “Life is a Highway” and it took on a life of its own, becoming one of Rascal Flatts’ most recognizable and successful songs to date.

Despite all of their success, Rascal Flatts announced that 2020 was going to be the end of the group. Their farewell tour was set to kick off in June, but the coronavirus pandemic forced them to change their plans. And, their fans and CMA Awards voters showed their love for Flatts with a Vocal Group of the Year nomination (their 20th CMA nod). They dominated the category every year from 2003 to 2008 and continued to be nominated through 2011 and again from 2015 to 2017.

The group announced their exit from the live CMA show in a tweet that read, “Hey Y’all, we wanted to let you guys know that we have received a positive COVID test within the band. As much as we were looking forward to performing at the CMA Awards tonight, we will no longer be attending in the interest of everyone’s safety. We miss y’all and stay safe!”

Hey Y’all, we wanted to let you guys know that we have received a positive COVID test within the band. As much as we were looking forward to performing at the CMA Awards tonight, we will no longer be attending in the interest of everyone’s safety. We miss y’all and stay safe! pic.twitter.com/dEd21kzCoj

— Rascal Flatts (@rascalflatts) November 12, 2020

Rascal Flatts was definitely missed. Thanks to YouTube, we can flash back to one of their past live performances. Check it out below.