Rascal Flatts Shocks Audience With Super Star Guest During ‘What Hurts The Most’ Performance

Akron Beacon Journal/TNS/Landov bia billboard.com

Fans in the audience for this performance were in for a huge surprise!

During the 2006 ACM Awards, Rascal Flatts performed their hit “What Hurts The Most“. The three singers are known for their incredible harmonies, but they decided they needed one more vocalist to make the performance perfection.

Fans were elated when lead singer Gary LeVox paused after the first chorus to say, “Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Kelly Clarkson!“

Clarkson walked out from backstage to deliver her verse and then join the guys for the chorus. 

The combination of LeVox’s booming tenor voice, Clarkson’s soprano, and Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney’s harmonizing is as close to perfection as we can get for a live performance.

“What Hurts The Most” was written by Jeffrey Steele and Steve Robson in 2003 and released by Mark Wills for his album, And The Crowd Goes Wild.

Rascal Flatts released their version in 2006 on their album Me And My Gang and it quickly became their fifth No. 1 single on the Billboard country charts. It also peaked at No. 6 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart and hit No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The song earned them two Grammy nominations.

We can’t stop replaying this performance because it’s just that good!

Watch it below!