"Changed" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

group

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American country music band founded in 1999. The band members were Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background vocals). DeMarcus is LeVox's second cou ...

. It was released in December 2012 as the third single from their eighth studio album of the same name. The song was written by

Gary LeVox Gary LeVox (born Gary Wayne Vernon Jr., July 10, 1970) is an American singer and songwriter. He is known for being the lead vocalist of the contemporary country music band Rascal Flatts, and his stage name was taken from the studio-console label ...

Wendell Mobley Wendell Lee Mobley (born in Celina, Ohio) is an American country music songwriter. He has written No. 1 hits for Rascal Flatts and Kenny Chesney. He began playing in local bands before moving to Nashville, Tennessee, where he found a job playing ...

and

Neil Thrasher Joe Neil Thrasher Jr. (born July 13, 1965) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Between 1995 and 1997, he and Kelly Shiver comprised the duo Thrasher Shiver, which recorded a studio album for Asylum Records in 1996 and charted two ...

. It was released to country radio on December 17, 2012, and AC and Christian AC radio on January 22, 2013.

History

The song came about from a true story told by the co-writer

after his daughter was baptized on the beach. Thrasher shared the story of his daughter's baptism with Rascal Flatts lead vocalist

, and presented him with some lyrics that he had written about it. He sang the lines to LeVox, who finished the song with him and

at LeVox's farm.

Critical reception

Billy Dukes of ''Taste of Country'' gave the song four and a half stars out of five, writing that "sonically, the soaring ballad has all of the hallmarks of a choice Rascal Flatts song." Matt Bjorke of ''Roughstock'' gave the song a favorable review, calling it "a lyrically strong song about giving up the past transgressions for a better path." Tara Seetharam of ''Country Universe'' gave the song a B, calling it "an earnest and relatively restrained performance and has legs."

Music videos

A live music video, directed by

Shaun Silva Shaun Silva is a music video director who works primarily in the country music field. He has directed a number of music videos for many country music artists, including many of Kenny Chesney's music videos. His other clients include Jason Aldean, D ...

, premiered in November 2012. It was cut from their DVD, ''All Access & Uncovered: The Making of Changed and Beyond''. The official music video, directed by Carl Diebold, premiered in April 2013. The official video stars

Charles Esten Charles Esten Puskar III (born September 9, 1965), also known professionally as Charles Esten, and Chip Esten, is an American actor, musician and comedian. Esten played the role of country singer Deacon Claybourne on the ABC/ CMT drama ''Nashvi ...

Chart performance

"Changed" debuted at number 52 on the U.S. '' Billboard'' Country Airplay chart for the week of January 5, 2013. It also debuted at number 48 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart for the week of January 26, 2013. As of the chart dated February 2, 2013, the song debuted at number 26 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

Christian Songs Hot Christian Songs is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It ranks the popularity of Christian songs using the same methodology developed for the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the magazine's flagship songs c ...

chart. This makes Rascal Flatts' first appearance on that chart. It also debuted at number 73 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and number 54 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart for the week of March 31, 2012. As of the chart dated March 2, 2013, the song debuted at number 29 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

Hot Christian Adult Contemporary The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

chart. This is Rascal Flatts' first appearance on that chart. It peaked at number 20 on Country Airplay and number 25 on Hot Country Songs.

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2012 singles Rascal Flatts songs Songs written by Wendell Mobley Songs written by Neil Thrasher Song recordings produced by Dann Huff Music videos directed by Shaun Silva Songs written by Gary LeVox Big Machine Records singles 2012 songs