Rascal Flatts' Gary LeVox Shares Frustrations Over How Group Ended

Country band Rascal Flatts announced at the beginning of 2020 that they were breaking up and going on a farewell Life is a Highway tour. "We haven't really had a break in 20 years," singer Gary LeVox shared on CBS This Morning when announcing the tour. "We haven't had time to reflect. Our fans have given us so much. We've achieved so many milestones in our career." Unfortunately, the pandemic derailed those tour plans, leaving their ending as a band rather open-ended. 

LeVox recently gave an interview with PEOPLE expressing his own frustration over how the longtime band ended. "I've never been okay with the way that it ended," LeVox admitted. "I was never okay with... I wasn't happy that Joe Don [Rooney] quit."

"It kind of came out of nowhere," LeVox said. "It was like, 'Let me try to wrap my head around this.' And then I certainly wasn't okay with the pandemic, which canceled everything. I hate the way that it ended. I hate that we didn't get to do this farewell tour. I can't stand the fact that it just feels there's no closure with something that we've been so blessed with. That will always be in my heart."

Since the split, LeVox has done solo work, Including a gospel album, Rooney has worked with several new artists, and Jay DeMarcus has continued to run Red Street Records. "I just took it and ran," LeVox said about going solo. "I'm loving being a solo artist. I know that's what He's called me to do. I'm just going to stay on my path. I know what I'm supposed to do, and I love it. There's no better feeling than to make people feel something by something that you did."

However, the break-up of Rascal Flatts hasn't been without strain. Rooney was arrested for a DUI in September, and Levox still hasn't spoken to him about it. "I have not talked to him," LeVox explained. "And I was heartbroken too. But you know what? I think God gets your attention in different ways. 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."

According to LeVox, he leans on his religion when times get tough. "There's so many times in life that you sit there, and you go, 'Oh my gosh, I'm all alone, Lord, I just can't," LeVox said. "How many times could I pray for and ask you to pull me out of this and nothing is happening? And it's then that He makes himself known, and everything makes sense."