Rascal Flatts is back! The country trio made a much-anticipated return to CMA Fest, taking the stage at Nissan Stadium in Nashville to the delight of the crowd.
“Us being back and doing all that, it’s the greatest thing that we do,” Gary LeVox shared ahead of the trio’s performance. “We’re live performers. That’s what we love to do. So to be here and to do this tonight, all these years later, it’s just a gift. So we won’t take it for granted again.”
“It was like a big piece of myself was missing,” Joe Don Rooney added of not performing with his bandmates, while Jay DeMarcus shared that returning to CMA Fest “feels like a big homecoming.”
Rascal Flatts brought out a special guest, Carly Pearce, during their set to perform “My Wish,” one of the trio’s many hit songs. Together, the trio and Pearce flawlessly blended their vocals, creating beautiful harmonies on the track as the entire crowd of over 70,000 sang in unison.
Ahead of their performance, Pearce admitted that performing “My Wish” with the award-winning country group is a total full circle moment. “I’ve loved Rascal Flatts my whole career,” she shared. “They’re one of the reasons that I wanted to sing country music, and I got to be a part of their duets’ album. This is going to be one of those total ‘I made it’ moments for me.”
“My Wish” originally appeared on Rascal Flatts’ 2006 album Me and My Gang and was released as the third single from the project. It went to No. 1 on the country charts and found itself inside the Top 30 on the Billboard Hot 100, since becoming one of the group’s enduring tracks. Rascal Flatts enlisted Pearce to sing “My Wish” with them on their recently-released collaboration project, Life Is A Highway: Refueled Duets, which also includes collaborations with Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, Brandon Lake, Ashley Cooke, Backstreet Boys, Jordan Davis, Lzzy Hale, and Kelly Clarkson.
Along with “My Wish,” the trio’s Nissan set also included plenty of fan favorites like “Life Is A Highway,” which closed out the night with high energy and lots of singing along. “Life Is A Highway” was originally recorded by Tom Cochrane, and Rascal Flatts covered the track in 2006 for the Disney/Pixar movie Cars. They also put their rendition of the song on Me and My Gang.
2025 CMA Fest
Dubbed “The Music Event of Summer,” CMA Fest Presented by SoFi featured 30+ performances from some of Country music’s hottest stars, including Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Cody Johnson, Riley Green, Jason Aldean, Trace Adkins, Jordan Davis, Ella Langley, Megan Moroney, Parker McCollum, Ashley McBryde, Rascal Flatts, The Red Clay Strays, Dylan Scott, Zach Top, Keith Urban and more.
The three-hour broadcast also included unforgettable collaborations from the 2025 CMA Fest. Brooks & Dunn teamed up with Lainey Wilson for “Play Something Country” and with Marcus King for “Rock My World [Little Country Girl],” Dierks Bentley joined forces with Zach Top on “Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go)” and a “Mountain Music” medley, Cody Johnson and Carín León performed “She Hurts Like Tequila,” Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll delivered a powerful performance of “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” Jason Aldean and Travis Tritt united for “It’s A Great Day To Be Alive,” Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins teamed up for “Hillbilly Bone,” and Bailey Zimmerman and BigXthaPlug showcased their new duet “All The Way” and more.
CMA Fest presented by SoFi was filmed at Nissan Stadium during Music City’s four-day country music festival, which took place Thursday, June 5, through Sunday, June 8. 2025 marked the 19th consecutive year that CMA has produced a summer concert TV special. The show is a production of the Country Music Association, executive produced and written by Robert Deaton and directed by Alan Carter. The 2025 airing marks the 22nd consecutive year CMA has produced a summer concert TV special.
The CMA Fest special aired on Thursday, June 26 at 8/7c on ABC and is available to watch on-demand on Friday, June 27 via Hulu.
