Rascal Flatts to kick off new tour in June

One of country music’s hottest ticket sellers, RASCAL FLATTS, will kick off a brand new tour on June 5 in St. Louis, the “Rascal Flatts American Living Unstoppable Tour” sponsored by JCPenney with associate sponsor Hershey’s. Joining the tour as opening act is Capitol Recording artist Darius Rucker. First leg of dates and cities listed below.

“We are very blessed to see familiar faces in the audience in most cities we play on tour,” says Jay DeMarcus. “We know in this economy Americans want the most for their money and we hope that we offer some stress relief and a fun night out.”

This year’s tour includes two stadium shows. The first will be held at Wrigley Field in Chicago on July 18, also the first country music concert to be held on site. Darius Rucker plus Vince Gill will be the special guests for this show. The second stadium concert will take place in their hometown of Columbus, Ohio on August 9 at Columbus Crew Stadium with guest Darius Rucker and Dierks Bentley.

“Rascal Flatts American Living Unstoppable Tour” sponsored by JCPenney will promote American Living, the retailer’s affordable, all-American lifestyle brand developed exclusively for the JCPenney customer by Polo Ralph Lauren’s Global Brand Concepts. In conjunction with the tour, Rascal Flatts has written a new song inspired by the spirit of the brand titled “American Living,” which will serve as the soundtrack for the new American Living commercial. The song will only be available on a special version of their new CD Unstoppable sold at JCPenney stores with net proceeds from the sale of albums being donated to the JCPenney Afterschool Fund, which provides children in need with access to life-enriching after school programs that inspire kids to be smart, strong and socially responsible. The commercial was filmed in early March in Los Angeles and is set to air May 17 – June 6 on prime time and cable television programming.

Last week, Rascal Flatts placed their fourth consecutive studio album atop the Top 200 chart, with the release of Unstoppable with sales of 351,000 albums. It also became the biggest country release of 2009 and the best in country first week sales since November 2008. Since they launched their career in 2000, they have sold nearly 20 million albums, scored 10 #1 singles and 18 top 10 hits and are the reigning AMA, CMT, PCA, ACM and CMA Vocal Group of The Year. The band has become well know for their touring savvy with energetic performances, high-tech production and in-concert interactive fan participation. They just wrapped their “Bob That Head Tour” on March 14 outside of Los Angles and played before1.2 million fans in 64 cities during the 10-month run.

Darius Rucker’s album Learn To Live marked his first project with Capitol Records Nashville and established the Grammy-winning singer/songwriter as a major force in country music. The album’s bittersweet centerpiece, “Don’t Think I Don’t Know About It,” topped the country charts uninterrupted for two weeks. Rucker's follow-up single, "It Won't Be Like This For Long," parked him at the top of the charts yet again for three consecutive weeks.

The current single from Live, “Alright,” is currently impacting radio. Rucker initially came to prominence as the lead vocalist and songwriter for the pop group Hootie & The Blowfish, whose 1994 debut, Cracked Rear View, sold more than 16 million copies to become one of the best-selling albums in history. Rucker has found a new home in the country format and intends to continue recording and releasing records to country radio.

“Rascal Flatts American Living Unstoppable Tour” First leg dates:
6-5 St Louis, MO Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
6-6 Indianapolis, IN Verizon Wireless Music Center
6-12 Miami, OK Buffalo Run Casino
6-13 Dallas, TX Superpages.com Center
6-14 Houston, TX The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
6-20 Somerset, WI Float-Rite Park
6-25 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
6-26 Hartford, CT Meadows Music Theater
6-27 Washington, DC Nissan Pavilion
7-11 Darien Lake, NY Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
7-12 Scranton, PA Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain
7-18 Chicago, IL Wrigley Field
7-23 Jacksonville, FL Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena
7-24 West Palm Beach, FL Cruzan Amphitheater
7-25 Tampa, FL Ford Amphitheater
7-31 Atlanta, GA Lakewood Amphitheater
8-1 Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
8-2 Raleigh, NC Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek
8-7 Cleveland, OH Blossom Music Center
8-8 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
8-9 Columbus, OH Columbus Crew Stadium
8-28 Pittsburgh, PA Post-Gazette Pavilion
8-29 Hershey, PA Hersheypark Stadium
9-10 Virginia Beach, VA Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater
9-11 Philadelphia, PA Susquehanna Bank Center
9-12 Boston, MA Comcast Center