Married to his muse! Gary LeVox and wife Tara LeVox (née Vernon) have a romance to sing about.
The Rascal Flatts frontman and Tara tied the knot in 1999, going on to welcome two daughters. More than 20 years into their union, the couple were still head over heels for one another.
“[Our secret is] just keeping God in the center of our marriage,” the “Life Is a Highway” singer exclusively told Us Weekly in October 2022. “Truly that’s the main thing [because] we can screw it up a lot when it’s just us trying to handle everything. So just keeping God at the center of our marriage has been the anchor point for us.”
At the time, Gary reassured Us that he was “absolutely” just as romantic as he was in the beginning of the duo’s relationship, giving a glimpse at how they spend a typical date night. “Little Olive Garden on a Wednesday? Come on,” he teased. “Oh, yeah. Little Baskin Robbins? You ready? You ain’t ready.”
The Ohio native went on to describe how he and Tara balanced parenting responsibilities while he was on the road. “Just because of [my] work and stuff, Tara was always like, ‘You know, you cannot come home [from touring] and just be the good cop,’” the “Get Down Like That” performer explained. “But, you know, dads are different because, like, it doesn’t take so much energy for us to correct our children than it does for moms. I can look at them or something and go, ‘Are you serious?’ And [they say], ‘I’m so sorry,’ whereas Tara would have to sit there and talk for 30 minutes on why it was wrong and they’ll go, ‘OK, I know. Gosh, I get it.”
According to the Grammy nominee, his outlook on relationships was impacted by his parents’ divorce, which occurred when he was 8 years old. His mother remarried but ultimately split from Gary’s stepdad after nearly 10 years. “I was shattered. I wanted a father,” he told Reader’s Digest in 2009. “Living through divorce has made me a better husband and father. I may not be the best looking guy in the world, but my wife and kids love me for who I am.”
Unlike his marriage, Gary’s bond with his bandmates — Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney — has faltered. In January 2020, Rascal Flatts announced that they would be disbanding after 22 years and had a farewell tour in the works. The dates were later canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the group officially went their separate ways in 2021.
“We don’t talk as much … ’cause, you know, we’re not doing business together,” Gary told Us in October 2022. “We wish each other the best … [I] want nothing but the best for those two and, you know, hopefully everything’s happy and healthy and their families are good. … I don’t know what the future holds but, you know, for now I’m just having a blast and … I think Jay and Joe Don are doing their thing.”
Scroll down for a closer look at Gary and Tara’s romance:
