Gary LeVox (born Gary Wayne Vernon Jr., July 10, 1970) is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known for being the lead vocalist of the contemporary

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

band

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American Country music, country music band formed in 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background voc ...

, and his stage name was taken from the studio-console label for his lead vocal track.

Biography

Early life

LeVox was born Gary Wayne Vernon Jr. in

Powell, Ohio Powell is a city in Delaware County, Ohio, United States, located 14 miles (21.5 km) north of the state capital of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus. Powell had an estimated population of 14,163 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Founded i ...

on July 10, 1970 to Judith (née Fuller) and Gary Wayne Vernon Sr. (1951–2019). He has two younger brothers named Kevin and Geoffrey. LeVox's first musical performance was at the age of eight, in a play at his church. He graduated from

Olentangy High School Olentangy High School is a public comprehensive secondary school located in Lewis Center, Ohio, operated by the Olentangy Local School District. In 2007, the school was ranked as the 97th best high school in the U.S. by ''Newsweek''. Then, in ...

and is an alumnus of

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

. Prompted by his cousin, LeVox moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, in 1997.

Rascal Flatts

LeVox and his second cousin, Jay DeMarcus, started out together in singer

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

's band. When the regular guitarist was not available, Joe Don Rooney stepped in. The three men say they felt chemistry immediately and afterwards formed Rascal Flatts.Price, Deborah Evans (December/January 2008), "The Triumph of Rascal Flatts". ''CMA Close Up'' volume unknown:20-21 LeVox rejoined Rascal Flatts in 2024 for their reunion and subsequent revival.

Post-Rascal Flatts

The band disbanded in 2021, after which LeVox began releasing solo music. In May 2021, he released his first solo EP, ''One on One''. This was followed in 2022 by a single titled "Get Down Like That" on

Big Machine Records Big Machine Records is an American record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by former DreamWorks Records executive Scott Borchetta and ...

, the label to which Rascal Flatts was previously signed.

Personal life

LeVox has been friends with

Jamie Foxx Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. Known for his work in both the screen and music industries, his accolades include an Academy Award, a Grammy Award ...

since the mid-1990s, and Foxx made a guest appearance on the Rascal Flatts album '' Still Feels Good''. LeVox was employed in his local burger bar from age 14 after which he started an

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

cover band with his close childhood friends. LeVox has been married to Tara Vernon since May 1999. He says it was love at first sight when they met backstage at a gospel festival concert. "I knew at that moment that I was looking at my future wife," he said in a 2011 interview. "It was the weirdest thing ever." They have two daughters together, Brittany, born in 2000, and Brooklyn, born in 2004.

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, by Lyric Street Records. As of July 2014, the album has sold 5.274 million copies in the United States, and it h ...

'' (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 as their fourth album for Lyric Street Records. The album became the highest US debut of 2006, with 721,747 units and wen ...

'' (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 Rewind may refer to: General uses * Rewind, the process of winding magnetic tape inside a cassette or a microfilm reel backwards to a previous point on the reel ** Rewind symbol, a media control symbol indicating tape rewind or analogous operatio ...

'' (2014) *'' The Greatest Gift of All'' (2016) *'' Back to Us'' (2017) *'' Life Is a Highway: Refueled Duets'' (2025)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Levox, Gary 1970 births American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Living people Singer-songwriters from Ohio Ohio State University alumni Singers from Columbus, Ohio Rascal Flatts members American people of Croatian descent 21st-century American singer-songwriters Country musicians from Ohio 21st-century American male singers Big Machine Records artists