This article looks at three well-known Rascal Flatts songs that many fans may not realise were originally recorded by other artists. It highlights how the country trio built part of their commercial success on covers, reworking existing songs into some of their most recognisable and successful hits over the past two decades.

The three tracks featured are "What Hurts The Most", first recorded by Mark Wills in 2003 before Rascal Flatts' 2006 version became their first crossover No. 1; "Bless The Broken Road", originally released by writer Marcus Hummon and by Jeff Hanna's band The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in the mid-1990s, before Rascal Flatts turned it into a multi-platinum, five-week No. 1 in 2004; and "Life Is A Highway", written by Tom Cochrane in 1991 and also covered by Chris LeDoux, which became a Top 10 hit for Rascal Flatts in 2006 largely thanks to its inclusion on the soundtrack of Disney/Pixar's Cars. The article also notes that in 2025 the band released "Life Is a Highway: Refueled Duets", a collection of collaborative reworkings of their biggest hits with other artists.