"Why Wait" is a song written by

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 ...

Tom Shapiro Tom Curtis Shapiro (born in Kansas City, Missouri) is an American songwriter and occasional record producer, known primarily for his work in country music. To date, he holds four Country Songwriter of the Year awards from Broadcast Music Incorpor ...

, and

Jimmy Yeary James Earl Yeary (born in Hillsboro, Ohio) is an American country music singer and songwriter. In 1994, Yeary moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to begin a career as a recording artist. Although he was signed to Atlantic Records, a change in label ...

and 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, ...

band

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 cousi ...

. It was released in August 2010 as the first single from the band's 2010 album '' Nothing Like This''. It is also their first single from

Big Machine Records Big Machine Records is an American independent record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Specializing in country and pop artists, Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by fo ...

Content

The protagonist attempts to convince his lover to run off to Las Vegas with him to get married.

Music video

The music video, directed by

William Zabka William Michael Zabka (; born October 20, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Johnny Lawrence (character), Johnny Lawrence in ''The Karate Kid'' (1984), ''The Karate Kid Part II'' (1986) and the TV series ''Cobra Kai'' ...

, was shot in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, following a story reminiscent of the comedy film ''

The Hangover ''The Hangover'' is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips, co-produced with Daniel Goldberg, and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. It is the first installment in ''The Hangover'' trilogy. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed ...

''.

David Arquette David Arquette (born September 8, 1971) is an American actor and former professional wrestler. He is best known for his role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film franchise ''Scream'', for which he won a Teen Choice Award and two Blockbuster Enter ...

plays the man in the video who proposes to his girlfriend.

Rick Harrison Richard Kevin Harrison (born March 22, 1965) is an American businessman, reality television personality, and owner of the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop which is featured on the History series ''Pawn Stars''. Harrison and his father, Richard Benjamin H ...

, owner of the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop and star of the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

original show ''

Pawn Stars ''Pawn Stars'' is an American reality television series shown on History and produced by Leftfield Pictures. The series is filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada, where it chronicles the daily activities at the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, a 24 ...

'', makes a cameo appearance in the video when the Flatts and Arquette stop at the pawn shop to buy an engagement ring. Also in the video are cameos by

Ron White Ron White (born December 18, 1956) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and author, best known as a charter member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. Nicknamed "Tater Salad", he is the author of the book ''I Had the Right to Remain Silent But ...

, Carrot Top,

Victoria Justice Victoria Dawn Justice (born February 19, 1993) is an American actress and singer. She has received several accolades, including two Young Artist Awards and nominations for three Imagen Awards, an NAACP Image Award, and three Kids' Choice Awar ...

Wayne Newton Carson Wayne Newton (born April 3, 1942) is an American singer and actor. One of the most popular singers in the nation from the mid-to-late 20th-century, Newton remains one of the best-known entertainers in Las Vegas. He is known by the nicknam ...

, and

Penn and Teller Penn may refer to: Places England * Penn, Buckinghamshire * Penn, West Midlands United States * Penn, North Dakota * Penn, Oregon * Pennsylvania ** Penn, Pennsylvania * Penn Lake Park, Pennsylvania * Penn Township (disambiguation), several muni ...

Critical reception

Matt Bjorke of Roughstock gave the song four stars out of five, saying that the lyrics "may be 'cheesy' to some, but it fits right where we'd expect a Rascal Flatts song to go." Tara Seetharam gave the song a B+ grade, describing it as "a tasteful, vintage-Flatts track marked by an infectious rush of joy." She positively commented on the production, lyrics, and LeVox's vocals, stating that "the song gets everything right." Ben Foster of "The 1-to-10 Country Music Review" gave it ten stars out of ten, saying, "this is the best that the boys' voices have sounded in years and their signature three-part harmonies are fully intact and sounding great."

Chart performance

"Why Wait" debuted at No. 34 on the U.S. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart for the week of August 14, 2010.Top Country Songs & Charts, Country Music Hits – Billboard.com
/ref> For the week of December 18, 2010, the song became the group's eleventh number one hit on the chart.

Year-end charts

References

{{Rascal Flatts singles 2010 singles 2010 songs Rascal Flatts songs Song recordings produced by Dann Huff Songs written by Neil Thrasher Songs written by Tom Shapiro Songs written by Jimmy Yeary Big Machine Records singles