Joe Don Rooney (born September 13, 1975 in Baxter Springs, KS) is an American musician. From 1999 to 2021, he was the lead guitarist and high octave harmony singer in the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

country pop Country pop (also known as pop country or urban cowboy) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends genres ...

trio

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American country music band founded in 1999. The band members were Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background vocals). DeMarcus is LeVox's second cou ...

. In addition to the

Electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

, Rooney plays the acoustic and

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

s, as well as mandolin & banjo. His influences include guitarists

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music ...

, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck.

Personal life

Joe Don Rooney's first band formed in 1992 under the name Uncle Thumbtack. In addition to Rooney playing lead guitar and singing backup harmony, this band included bass guitarist Gregory Fitzgibbon, acoustic guitarist Erin Fitzgibbon, drummer Colin Frayser, and rhythm guitarist Jason. Like future bandmate

Jay DeMarcus Jay DeMarcus (born Stanley Wayne DeMarcus Jr.; on April 26, 1971) is an American bassist, vocalist, pianist, record producer and songwriter. From 1999 to 2021, he was a member of the country pop group Rascal Flatts. Early life DeMarcus was born ...

, he also played in

Chely Wright Chely Wright (born Richell Rene Wright; October 25, 1970) is an American activist, author and country music artist. She initially rose to fame as a commercial country recording artist with several charting singles, including the number one hit ...

's band before Rascal Flatts. Rooney frequently jammed with family member musicians Justin Speer, Tracy Conder, and Jeramy Essary (to whom he later dedicated " I'm Movin' On"). Rooney married former beauty queen

Tiffany Fallon Tiffany Fallon (born May 1, 1974 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) is an American model. In 2004, she was photographed by Stephen Wayda for ''Playboy'' and was named Playmate of the Month for December. She was also named Playmate of the Year for 2005 ...

on April 23, 2006. She was

Miss Georgia USA The Miss Georgia USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Georgia in the Miss USA pageant. This pageant is directed Greenwood Productions under the ownership of Miss Tennessee USA 1989 Kim Greenwood and ...

in 2001 and 2nd runner-up for the

Miss USA 2001 Miss USA 2001 was the 50th Miss USA pageant, held at the Genesis Convention Center in Gary, Indiana on March 2, 2001. The event was won by Kandace Krueger of Texas, who was crowned by outgoing queen Lynnette Cole of Tennessee. The pageant was ...

competition. She was also the 2005

Playmate of the Year This is a list of models who were chosen as a Playboy Playmate of the Year for the American edition of ''Playboy'' magazine. List of Playmates of the Year *1953: Marilyn Monroe *1954: *1955: *1956: *1957: *1958: *1959: *1960: Ellen Stratton ...

. The couple was featured in the Playboy Cyber Club's celebrity photographer section, with the nude pictorial of Fallon being shot by Rooney himself. The couple have three children: son Jagger Donovan Rooney (born May 31, 2008) and daughters Raquel Blue Rooney (born September 7, 2010) and Devon Olivia Rooney (born September 25, 2014). The couple divorced in 2022. In 2016, Rooney signed

Dylan Brady Dylan Marshall Brady (born November 27, 1993) is an American music producer and singer-songwriter best known for being one half of experimental electronic music duo 100 Gecs, alongside Laura Les. He also owns and operates his own record label, ...

to an artist development deal. Together, Brady and Rooney produced Brady's first single, "Shifting Gears," which was released in August 2018. In 2019, Rooney produced Brady's singles "Over Us" and "I Hate California." On September 9, 2021, he was arrested for and charged in Tennessee with driving under the influence after crashing his vehicle into a tree line. He sustained no injuries in the crash. On June 1, 2022, Rooney pleaded guilty to the charges; he was sentenced to one year in jail, with all but two days of the sentence suspended, and the loss of his driver's license.

Discography

*''

'' (2000) *'' Melt'' (2002) *''

Feels Like Today ''Feels Like Today'' is the third studio album by American country music group Rascal Flatts. It was released on September 28, 2004, via Lyric Street Records. The album has sold 5.274 million copies in the United States as of July 2014, and it ha ...

'' (2004) *''

Me and My Gang ''Me and My Gang'' is the fourth studio album by the American country music group Rascal Flatts, released on April 4, 2006 by Lyric Street Records. The album became the highest US debut of 2006, with 721,747 units and went double platinum in the ...

'' (2006) *'' Still Feels Good'' (2007) *''

Unstoppable Unstoppable may refer to: Film and television * Unstoppable (2004 film), ''Unstoppable'' (2004 film), an American film directed by David Carson * ''Unstoppable: Conversation with Melvin Van Peebles, Gordon Parks, and Ossie Davis'', a 2005 America ...

'' (2009) *'' Nothing Like This'' (2010) *'' Changed'' (2012) *'' Rewind'' (2014) *''

The Greatest Gift of All ''The Greatest Gift of All'' is the only Christmas album recorded by American country pop trio Rascal Flatts. It was released October 21, 2016, through Big Machine Records. The album was produced by group member Jay DeMarcus. Critical reception ...

'' (2016) *''

Back to Us ''Back to Us'' is the tenth and final studio album by American country music trio Rascal Flatts. It was released on May 19, 2017 through Big Machine Records. The group produced the album themselves, save one track on the deluxe edition, which wa ...

'' (2017)

References

External links

*
Rascal Flatts Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rooney, Joe Don 1975 births American country guitarists American male guitarists Living people People from Baxter Springs, Kansas People from Ottawa County, Oklahoma Rascal Flatts members Guitarists from Kansas Country musicians from Oklahoma 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male musicians