Backstreet Boys, Rascal Flatts join forces in perfect harmony at 2025 ACM Awards

Backstreet Boys and Rascal Flatts capped off the 60th Academy of Country Music Awards with a collaborative performance that celebrated singing in perfect harmony, whether country or pop.

Members of the two supergroups stood powerfully in a line on stage, clad in black and white. 

They kicked off the finale performance together with Rascal Flatts’ tune “What Hurts The Most” before launching into the band’s track “I Dare You.”

The Backstreet Boys delivered a dancey, energetic performance on their hit “Larger That Life,” kicking and spinning with pop-country swagger as white lights strobed around them.

Audience members sang and danced along as the two groups came together for the final song of the night, “Life Is A Highway.”

As sparks rained down, the groups sealed the evening with cross-genre camaraderie and harmonies.

Pop and country come together at the ACMs

Previous years' ACM Awards shows on Prime Video offered mainstream superstars of the moment including Dua Lipa, Noah Kahan and Ed Sheeran.

Country music is now a genre where pop crossover success has elevated Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Post Malone and Morgan Wallen to broader acclaim.

Raj Kapoor, ACM Awards producer and show runner, served as the Backstreet Boys' creative director for the 2017 Las Vegas residency and as a production designer for Rascal Flatts' 2015 tour, among many others.

"I can't wait for everyone to hear two vocal supergroups with great harmonies," Kapoor said before the show.

Backstreet Boys and Rascal Flatts: A decade of incredible success

Between 1996 and 2008, Backstreet Boys and Rascal Flatts achieved about three dozen top-10 hits over nine studio albums that sold over 70 million copies.

Domestic chart toppers like "As Long as You Love Me" and "Life is a Highway" aren't just country and pop hits. They represent an era when the music industry sold more physical units than ever.

Backstreet Boys' evolution from being initially cast as having a New Kids on the Block look with a Boyz II Men sound to being a nine-time Grammy-nominated act is noteworthy. Similarly, Rascal Flatts' ability to make catchy songs aimed at young people with live shows heavy on videos, pyrotechnics and lasers is key to a decade of crossover longevity.

"In many ways, our career has represented, in how we've blended country, gospel, hip-hop, R&B and rock, that artists can succeed when the industry builds walls that (you have the capability) to tear down," Backstreet Boys member Howie Dorough told The Tennessean.

AJ McLean said the band members were all "born good ol' Southern boys and cited their 2017 hit "God, Your Mama and Me" with Florida Georgia Line as essential to maintaining hit-making moments in country's industry.

"From the Oak Ridge Boys and Alabama to Rascal Flatts and the Backstreet Boys," joked band member Nick Carter.

ACM Awards 2025: Backstreet Boys and Rascal Flatts are back

Rascal Flatts' first album in eight years, "Life Is A Highway: Refueled Duets," arrives on June 6 via Big Machine Records.

Artists including the Backstreet Boys, Kelly Clarkson, the Jonas Brothers and Blake Shelton collaborate on songs including “What Hurts The Most,” “Mayberry,” “I’m Movin’ On” and “I Dare You.”

Meanwhile, Backstreet Boys are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their album "Millennium." An expanded deluxe version of that album, "Millennium 2.0," arrives on July 11. It will feature remastered versions of the original tracks, a new song titled "Hey" and bonus tracks including B-sides, alternate lyrics, demos and more.

Its release precedes the group's summer "Into The Millennium" residency at Las Vegas' Sphere from July 11 to Aug. 24.

For more information visit http://sphere.backstreetboys.com.