On January 1, 2021, Florida Georgia Line kicked off the new year by announcing plans to release solo music.
In a video call that members Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley shared to social media, Kelly explained, “Me and you have had conversations three or four years ago, and this has kind of been a lifelong dream of mine. But I kinda felt like I started writing an album once I started writing again in August and had a couple of songs that I started writing that I just felt like maybe I’m supposed to sing these and probably have a project, an outlet for these to come out on. We talked about that before, and just the timing wasn’t right. All the dots weren’t really connected, everything wasn’t in line.”
“Like BK said, timing’s everything and we’ve been on a 10-year journey together. We wouldn’t change it for the world. And we’re gonna continue our journey,” Hubbard responded. “We’ve kind of created this freedom around ourselves to where we can do whatever we want to do creatively and musically, so it’s a lot of fun…. It’s a beautiful place to be, like BK said, to be able to venture out and have a voice of our own and have an individuality a little bit. We’ve always been a package deal.”
While the country superstar duo promised that the announcement is not a breakup, and that they still plan to tour together in the new year once it’s safe to do so, we at Billboard felt that it was time for a Florida Georgia Timeline (get it?)
See below for a timeline of FGL’s career.
2008 – Belmont University
Kelley and Hubbard met at the Nashville-located university through a campus worship group, and began writing together between classes. Kelley is from Ormond Beach, Florida, and Hubbard is from Monroe, Georgia — thus deciding on the name Florida Georgia Line.
December 2010 – Anything Like Me EP
As an independent duo, FGL self-released their debut EP, which featured six songs including “You’re Country” and “Backwoods Beauty Queen.” They went on to sign a publishing and management deal with Big Loud Mountain and worked with Nickelback producer Joey Moi on their next EP.
2012 – “Cruise”
Featured on their 2012 It’z Just What We Do EP, “Cruise” became FGL’s breakout hit. The song hit No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart on Dec. 22, 2012, its first of a then-record-breaking 24 weeks at the top of the list. By July 6, 2013, the song — thanks in part to a remix featuring Nelly — peaked at No. 4 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart, the duo’s first top 10 hit. The song went on to sell more than 7.5 million downloads by 2020 in the U.S., and has earned more than 700 million on-demand streams and been played on the radio over 1 million times.
The song later opened up FGL’s debut studio album, 2012’s Here’s to the Good Times.
2013 – Awards galore!
Thanks to the success of “Cruise,” Florida Georgia Line won a slew of awards in 2013. At the ACM Awards, the duo snagged new artist of the year and new vocal duo or group of the year. At the CMT Music Awards, “Cruise” won duo video of the year and breakthrough video of the year. At the CMA Awards, Florida Georgia Line won vocal duo of the year and “Cruise” was named single of the year. At the American Music Awards, the Nelly remix of “Cruise” won single of the year.
A year later, at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards, “Cruise” continued its winning streak when it was named top country song.
August 2014 – Anything Goes album
The group’s sophomore album was led by the single “Dirt.”
August 2016 – Dig Your Roots album
The duo’s third studio album featured a number of high-profile collaborations, including Tim McGraw, Ziggy Marley and the Backstreet Boys, showcasing FGL’s talent for genre-bending.
2017 – Bebe Rexha’s “Meant to Be”
FGL teamed up with pop star Bebe Rexha for her smash All Your Fault: Pt. 2 track “Meant to Be,” which reached No. 1 on Hot Country Songs on Dec. 16, 2017, and eventually logged a record-breaking 50 weeks in the lead. The track soared to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 (for three weeks) and to No. 2 on the Pop Airplay chart. It has generated over 1.4 billion on-demand streams in the U.S. and over 1.3 million plays on the radio.
February 2019 – Can’t Say I Ain’t Country album
Hubbard and Kelley each co-wrote more than half the tracks on Country, which spans 19 songs, including the singles “Talk You Out of It,” “Sittin’ Pretty” and “Colorado.” They continued their affinity for wide-ranging features on the album, with Jason Derulo, Jason Aldean and Hardy among the guest stars.
The album entered Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart (dated March 2, 2019) at No. 1, earning 50,000 equivalent album units (29,000 in traditional album sales) in its first week, ending Feb. 21, according to Nielsen Music.
October 2019 – The Acoustic Sessions
Florida Georgia Line stripped things down for its 17-track acoustic project. The banjo is at the forefront of “Get Your Shine On” instead of electric guitars for a more laidback feel. Meanwhile, the band’s collaborators Luke Bryan, Tim McGraw, Backstreet Boys and Bebe Rexha remained on massive hits “This Is How We Roll,” “May We All,” “God, Your Mama, and Me” and “Meant to Be” respectively.
May 2020 – 6-Pack EP
It’s like “a variety pack – there is a little something for everybody: a love song, party songs, and songs that bring us together,” said FGL’s Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley of the EP. “We’ve been working real hard in the studio, and are just super excited to have new music out.”
The six-song compilation was co-produced by Corey Crowder and featured the single “I Love My Country.”
In 2021, FGL added three more tracks to the set: “Long Live,” “New Truck” and “Life Rolls On.”
November 2020 – “No truth” to breakup rumors
Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley unfollowed each other on social media, which led fans to believe a hiatus was on the way. A source close to the group told Billboard at the time that there were “no truth” to rumors of a split.
January 2021 – Plans to release solo music
In a nearly 10-minute video call that the country duo shared on their social media, Kelley explained how the ongoing pandemic gave him a lot of extra time at home for some “soul-searching” and a nice break from songwriting before he got back into the swing of things.
“Me and you have had conversations three or four years ago, and this has kind of been a lifelong dream of mine. But I kinda felt like I started writing an album once I started writing again in August and had a couple of songs that I started writing that I just felt like maybe I’m supposed to sing these and probably have a project, an outlet for these to come out on,” he said. “We talked about that before, and just the timing wasn’t right. All the dots weren’t really connected, everything wasn’t in line.”
“Like BK said, timing’s everything and we’ve been on a 10-year journey together. We wouldn’t change it for the world. And we’re gonna continue our journey,” Hubbard responded. “We’ve kind of created this freedom around ourselves to where we can do whatever we want to do creatively and musically, so it’s a lot of fun…. It’s a beautiful place to be, like BK said, to be able to venture out and have a voice of our own and have an individuality a little bit. We’ve always been a package deal.”
The duo clarified that they’re not breaking up and still plan to tour together in the new year once it’s safe to do so.
January 2021 – “Undivided”
Hubbard teamed up with Tim McGraw for the upbeat, inspirational anthem “Undivided,” which Hubbard wrote with Chris Loocke while reflecting on his personal quarantine in his tour bus after testing positive for COVID-19 (which made FGL unable to perform at the CMA Awards in 2020 along with four other performers).
“Music gives us hope and brings us together in a way nothing else can. This doesn’t mean we don’t have work to do. Quite the opposite,” McGraw said in a statement. “I loved the positivity of this song and that it called me to check myself and to remember that love is bigger. It’s why I knew this song had to be my next single with Tyler as soon as he sent it to me.”
“I knew immediately when I finished it, I had to text it to Tim. He has a way of communicating with the world that is unique in music,” Hubbard added. “For him to want to perform with me was an amazing feeling. The song is about coming together, and that’s exactly what we did.”
January 2021 – Inauguration
McGraw and Hubbard performed their unifying duet at the Celebrating America primetime special honoring President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Inauguration Day (Jan. 20).
They delivered the song outdoors on the the banks of the Cumberland River with Nashville’s skyline lighting up in the background.
