During Thursday night’s 60th Academy of Country Music Awards, Rascal Flatts will team up with Backstreet Boys to do a new version of “What Hurts the Most,” a song BSB almost recorded themselves nearly 20 years ago.
“They were pitched that song way back in the day, and for whatever reason passed on it,” Jay DeMarcus tells ABC Audio. “But to be able to get in the studio with them and collaborate on this song, having admired them and been friends with them for so long, it’s really, really special to create with them.”
“And I think there’s a mutual admiration there,” Jay adds. “And it’s always cool to look at somebody in the pop world, and admire what they do. And I think they love country music, too.”
Rascal Flatts’ studio recording with BSB is on Life Is a Highway: Refueled Duets, which drops June 6. But could the ACM performance include more than just the new version of “What Hurts the Most”?
“We’ll be singing, and they might be dancing a little bit,” Joe Don Rooney teases. “I don’t think we can give too much away.”
“I can tell you this, though, it’s longer than normal, which is cool,” he continues. “ACMs are being very generous to us, and it’s gonna be really cool.”
The 60th ACMs, hosted by Reba McEntire, kick off live from Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, at 8 p.m. ET on Prime Video.
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