RASCAL FLATTS' GARY LEVOX DIAGNOSED WITH DOWN'S SYNDROME AS A CHILD

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..........................EVERYONE KNOWS GARY LEVOX HAS AN INTERESTING PAST. WHAT THEY DON'T KNOW is that due to poor performance on intelligence tests when he was in kindergarten he was placed in a special education class. "They thought I had Down's Syndrome" Gary recently explained. "They thought I was, you know, like Corky."

Fans of the band are sticking behind their idol. One RF Superfan explained: "I don't care if he's a little slow. His music is deep. It touches people."

Gary says he doesn't care if people look at him different from now on. "I know who I am. I make a lot of money. So there!"

Gary also suprised people when he recently revealed the idea for their smash hit "Bob That Head" came from his experiences in special ed. "They had this real messed up guy sitting next to me who would repeat weird stuff all day long. He had two brothers whose names were Bob and Ted. His parents had tried to teach him for years to say their names, they would work with him all day long trying to get him to say Bob and Ted, but for some reason it got confused in his mind as 'Bob that Head.' He would say 'Bob that Head' for hours and hours in this retarded voice. I couldn't
handle it. I made up my mind right then and there that I was going to become a country star so I could be a big success and not sit around with special ed people all day long."

LeVox is also defensive about people who criticize his work: "People say we're pop, people say we're not country. Well, if you don't like RF you can go to hell. The other day I read some critical article about 'Bob that Head' who said it was the worst song in the history of country music, that it was the country equivalent of Jefferson Starships' We Built this City on Rock and Roll a song which was voted to be the worst song in rock history. Well I says 'Fuck you' to all my critics. If some of my fans don't read and write well that's ok. I've never read a book in my life and I'm doing just fine. I touch people with my music."

LeVox isn't giving out many interviews these days because he's consumed with his new passion: fingerpainting. "It's a high art. I love it. I want to have my own gallery one day, and when you walk in to see my finger art, you will hear 'Bob that Head' in the background."

SATIREPATCH