Bless the Broken Road

Infobox Single
Name = Bless the Broken Road


Cover size =
Caption =
Artist = Rascal Flatts
from Album = Feels Like Today
Released = late 2004
Format = CD single
Digital download
Recorded =
Genre = Country
Length = 3:50
Label = Lyric Street
Writer = Bobby Boyd
Jeff Hanna
Marcus Hummon
Producer = Mark Bright
Marty Williams
Certification = Platinum (RIAA)
Last single = "Feels Like Today"
(2004)
This single = "Bless the Broken Road"
(2005)
Next single = "Fast Cars and Freedom"
(2005)
Misc =Audiosample
Upper caption = Audio sample
Audio file= Rascal Flatts - Bless the Broken Road.ogg

"Bless the Broken Road" is the title a song that has been recorded by several American country music artists to date. It was co-written by Marcus Hummon and members of the country music group Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1994, and recorded by Hummon a year later. Since then, Melodie Crittenden, Sons of the Desert, Geoff Moore, Selah, and Rascal Flatts have all recorded the song as well; Rascal Flatts' version was a Number One hit on the "Billboard" country music charts in 2005, and the songwriters earned a Grammy Award for Best Country Song.

History

Co-written by Marcus Hummon, Jeff Hanna, and Bobby Boyd, "Bless the Broken Road" was originally recorded by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on their 1994 album "Acoustic". One year later, Hummon also recorded the song for his debut album "All in Good Time".

The first version to be released as a single was released in 1998 by Melodie Crittenden under the title "Broken Road". This version was a #42 single on the "Billboard" Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts. The same year, country band Sons of the Desert recorded their own version of the song, for a planned second album for Epic Records. This album, however, was not released, due to a dispute between the band and their label.cite web |url=http://countrymusic.about.com/od/songwriters/a/sng_mhummon.htm |title=Matt's Songwriter Spotlight - Marcus Hummon |accessdate=2007-11-18 |last=Bjorke |first=Matt |work=About.com] One year later, Geoff Moore recorded the song as well.

The highest-charting rendition was by the country music group Rascal Flatts, who cut the song for their "Feels Like Today" album. Released in 2005, their version spent five weeks at Number One on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, and earned a Grammy Award for Best Country Song.

That same year, Crittenden recorded the song a second time, as a member of the Christian group Selah. This version was a Top Five hit on the "Billboard" Hot Christian Songs charts.

On May 252005, during a live performance on American Idol by Carrie Underwood and Rascal Flatts, [USA Today Underwood Wins Idol [http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-05-25-idol-final-results_x.htm] ] an additional version was recorded. While not in wide release, and never released on an album, the version received enough radio airplay to enter the country music charts at #50.

Chart positions

Melodie Crittenden

elah w/ Melodie Crittenden

uccession

References