"Changed" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

group

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 co ...

. It was released in December 2012 as the third single from their eighth studio album of the same name. The song was written by

Gary LeVox Gary LeVox (born Gary Wayne Vernon Jr., July 10, 1970) is an American singer and songwriter. He is known for being the lead vocalist of the contemporary country music band Rascal Flatts, and his stage name was taken from the studio-console label ...

, Wendell Mobley and Neil Thrasher. It was released to country radio on December 17, 2012, and AC and Christian AC radio on January 22, 2013.

History

The song came about from a true story told by the co-writer Neil Thrasher after his daughter was baptized on the beach. Thrasher shared the story of his daughter's baptism with Rascal Flatts lead vocalist

, and presented him with some lyrics that he had written about it. He sang the lines to LeVox, who finished the song with him and Wendell Mobley at LeVox's farm.

Critical reception

Billy Dukes of ''Taste of Country'' gave the song four and a half stars out of five, writing that "sonically, the soaring ballad has all of the hallmarks of a choice Rascal Flatts song." Matt Bjorke of ''Roughstock'' gave the song a favorable review, calling it "a lyrically strong song about giving up the past transgressions for a better path." Tara Seetharam of ''Country Universe'' gave the song a B, calling it "an earnest and relatively restrained performance and has legs."

Music videos

A live music video, directed by Shaun Silva, premiered in November 2012. It was cut from their DVD, ''All Access & Uncovered: The Making of Changed and Beyond''. The official music video, directed by Carl Diebold, premiered in April 2013. The official video stars Charles Esten.

Chart performance

"Changed" debuted at number 52 on the U.S. '' Billboard''

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

chart for the week of January 5, 2013. It also debuted at number 48 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart for the week of January 26, 2013. As of the chart dated February 2, 2013, the song debuted at number 26 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

Christian Songs Hot Christian Songs is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It ranks the popularity of Christian songs using the same methodology developed for the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the magazine's flagship songs c ...

chart. This makes Rascal Flatts' first appearance on that chart. It also debuted at number 73 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and number 54 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart for the week of March 31, 2012. As of the chart dated March 2, 2013, the song debuted at number 29 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Christian Adult Contemporary chart. This is Rascal Flatts' first appearance on that chart. It peaked at number 20 on Country Airplay and number 25 on Hot Country Songs.

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2012 singles Rascal Flatts songs Songs written by Wendell Mobley Songs written by Neil Thrasher Song recordings produced by Dann Huff Music videos directed by Shaun Silva Songs written by Gary LeVox Big Machine Records singles 2012 songs