Story Behind the Song: Rascal Flatts, ‘I Won’t Let Go’

In early 2011, Rascal Flatts released "I Won't Let Go" as the second single from their Nothing Like This album. The No. 2, platinum-certified country hit was written by Jason Sellers and Steve Robson, the latter of whom also co-wrote the Flatts' Grammy-nominated "What Hurts the Most."

"I Won't Let Go" came from Sellers and Robson's first-ever co-writing session. Below, Sellers shares with The Boot the story behind the song, and the message he hopes others will hear in its lyrics.

"I Won't Let Go" is special to me because I'm a Christian. It felt like, to me, because we didn't define the character in the song, it could be a friend saying it to a friend, it could, in some sense, be God saying it to someone, it could be you saying it to your husband or wife ... So, in that sense, the song's exciting to me, because it's got an inspirational message. It says something good that lifts people up.

I wrote this song with Steve Robson, about [in 2009]. He's from England, and he and Darrell Franklin had some deal together, where Darrell handles Steve's co-writes and publishing. So he set me and Steve up.

This was the first song Steve and I ever wrote together. He came over from England, and we worked on the melody and the direction of the lyrics.

Steve is an incredible writer. We didn't have to spend that much time on it. He had a musical piece already going. It just felt so inspired, and we built on that.

After Steve left, I poured over what we had a lot more, because I loved the message and I wanted to make it as close to right as I could make it. I was thinking, if you were quoting what someone was saying in their own words ... If they were saying this to someone in the family that's a soldier that's over there fighting, or to your mom, dad, wife, husband ... I think everyone wants to have someone say to them, "Hey, I can't stop it from raining on you, but I will be here to help you get through."

We get emails from people -- and I know a lot of artists and labels do, too -- how a song touches someone's life. I do this for a living, and I'm trying to make money ... but when you get those kinds of stories and feedback, you really feel like you had some contribution. With an uplifting lyric like that, maybe it gives somebody hope to move forward and make it through another day, through whatever their trauma or disaster is, or even just getting tired in life.

This story was originally written by Marianne Horner, and revised by Angela Stefano.

Are Rascal Flatts Really Breaking Up?! Here's Why We Think It's for Real

Test Your Rascal Flatts Knowledge!