Rascal Flatts to join the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra for July 4 concert on TV

Country music superstars Rascal Flatts will join conductor Keith Lockhart and The Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra on the BOSTON POPS FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR, an entertainment special to be broadcast live from the Charles River Esplanade in Boston, Friday, July 4 (10:00-11:00 PM, live ET/delayed PT) on the CBS Television Network. Craig Ferguson (CBS's "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson") will host the special for the second consecutive year.

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the BOSTON POPS FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR, the orchestra's annual free outdoor Fourth of July concert sponsored by Liberty Mutual Group, one of America’s leading insurance companies.

Rascal Flatts will perform some of their greatest hits with The Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra under the direction of conductor Keith Lockhart.

The concert will also feature its traditional piece, the Boston Pops rendition of the "1812 Overture." The final 23 minutes of the telecast, featuring the fireworks display, will be presented commercial free by Liberty Mutual Group.

The Boston Pops, “America's Orchestra,” performs in front of nearly 900,000 people annually in Boston, across the country and around the world, and reaches millions more through its recordings and television broadcasts.

Rascal Flatts has sold over 17 million albums, scored nine number one singles and 17 top 10 hits, and each of their five albums are multi-platinum sellers. They are the reigning CMT, ACM and CMA Vocal Group of The Year with multiple consecutive wins at each. They were recently honored as the 2008 Academy of Country Music/The Home Depot® Humanitarian Award recipients due, in part, to their dedication to raising funds for the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville where, in the past three years, they have donated $2.2 million, as well as for their work on the American Red Cross Celebrity Cabinet board. Known for their dynamic performances and high-tech stage productions, Rascal Flatts recently wrapped their “Still Feels Good Tour,” ranked as the best-selling country tour for the first quarter of 2008, according to Pollstar. Since 2006, the vocal group has performed for two million fans in 156 cities. The band is currently headlining their "Bob That Head Tour," which kicked off last weekend, in promotion of their latest album, Still Feels Good.

Craig Ferguson joined the late-night television arena as host of THE LATE LATE SHOW in January 2005, following a career that encompassed film, television and the stage. The Scottish-born actor, writer, director and producer brings a fresh approach to late-night television, which has quickly evolved into appointment viewing for America's nightly insomniacs and for which he has received an Emmy nomination. Each weeknight, Ferguson, a gifted conversationalist, goes one-on-one with guests from the worlds of film, television, sports, news and publishing. Additionally, THE LATE LATE SHOW continues to spotlight eclectic, edgy musical acts and rising stand-up comedians. THE LATE LATE SHOW with CRAIG FERGUSON is broadcast weeknights (12:37-1:37 AM, ET/PT) following broadcasts of the "Late Show with David Letterman" on CBS. (On the web: www.cbs.com/latenight/latelate.)

Boston 4 Productions (www.july4th.org) has produced this annual event for the past 35 years for which approximately 500,000 people pack Boston's Charles River Esplanade. In addition, more than seven million people across the country and the globe join "America's Orchestra" through the annual televised broadcast, sponsored by Liberty Mutual Group.

The BOSTON POPS FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR broadcast and live event will be produced by Boston 4 Productions and White Cherry Entertainment, in collaboration with IMG Media. Boston 4 Productions' David G. Mugar is executive producer. Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner will produce the national telecast; Michael Mathis of IMG Media and Sheryl Boursik of WBZ-TV will produce the local telecast seen on WBZ-TV Boston. Glenn Weiss will direct both the local and Network broadcasts.