Meet Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley, better known as the country duo Florida Georgia Line.
Throughout the 2010s, you couldn't escape their songs on the radio, but they started
from the bottom and worked their way to the top. This is the untold truth of Florida Georgia
Line.
While Brian Kelley grew up in Ormond Beach, Florida, and Tyler Hubbard in Monroe, Georgia,
the two came from similar backgrounds. Both are Baptists, both enjoy fishing, and both
men enjoy country legend Garth Brooks and rapper Eminem in equal measure. By 2008, they
finally met at Belmont University in Nashville. Recalling his first memory of Hubbard, Kelley
told Billboard,
"[He was driving his pickup truck] windows down, blowing diesel smoke, listening to Lil
Wayne. And I was like, man, that's how I grew up."
At school, Hubbard and Kelley knew each other from campus worship. Kelley, who was a star
high school athlete, said he skipped baseball practice one day to go watch Hubbard play
a musical showcase. From there, the classmates started to make music. Kelley said,
"The first time we ever wrote together, we were finishing each other's sentences. No
record label, no one other than the man upstairs, can put something like that together."
So the story goes, Hubbard and Kelley met up at McDonald's toward the end of their studies
to hatch a plan for the future, and decided to give themselves two years to make it as
a duo, while making money any way possible.
In an interview with Taste of Country, the boys from Florida Georgia Line reflected on
the difficult times early on, including days when Hubbard and Kelley had almost no money
in their wallets. But sometimes all it takes is a twinkle in the eye to pursue an almost
impossible dream. Sure, the pair enjoyed writing and performing music, but they also had to
figure out how to pay the bills. Hubbard elaborated that to make ends meet,
"We were building bathroom stalls and building golf carts and cutting grass and washing cars
— whatever we could do to still have time to have a couple of days to write."
As tough as it must have been, Hubbard and Kelley kept on pushing toward their goals,
and the rest is country music history.
Despite Kelley and Hubbard working their tails off to make it in the music scene, the guys
didn't stop working once the hits started climbing up the charts. The duo have since
expanded their empire considerably, including starting their own record label.
And that's not all: far from it, in fact. According to the Florida Georgia Line website,
their cozy Nashville "Meet and Greet" compound is a combination of retail, creative and business
spaces, including a store selling their the "Tribe Kelley" fashion line and the headquarters
of their publishing company Tree Vibez Music. Meanwhile, FGL House is a combination bar,
restaurant, and live music venue serving Old Camp Peach Pecan Whiskey — an FGL creation.
Yup, Kelley and Hubbard worked with a third-party consulting firm to develop their own special
liquor in 2018. Kelley told Thrillist,
"We wanted to create something different and fresh and, at the end of the day, something
we could be proud of that our friends would like, and that would translate well at the
bar."
Sticking with the booze theme, Jason Aldean and Florida Georgia Line announced a joint
collaboration in Wolf Moon Bourbon two years later. These guys may just stock your entire
local bar soon enough.
"We had to give you a little taste of Florida and Georgia, the peaches and the pecan."
"Oh I did not even put it together!"
The song that put Florida Georgia Line in the country music big leagues was 2012's "Cruise."
Speaking with Taste of Country, Kelley and Hubbard talked a bit about their creative
process in making the song. Kelley admitted,
"That song came out of another writing session in the middle of another song...I think we
kind of have to thank the Songwriting Gods for that one. We knew there was something
cool about it. I remember we just kind of tweaked it a little bit. [The producer] Joey
Moi did an awesome job on the track, and it sounds huge. It’s just a fun, summer song."
According to Billboard, the song topped Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart for twenty-four weeks
in 2012, breaking a record that had stood for close to sixty years.
Not to be outdone, Florida Georgia Line teamed up with Bebe Rexha for one of the most memorable
songs of the decade with 2017's "Meant to Be." It turns out that a conversation between
Hubbard and his wife, Haley, inspired the unbelievably catchy hook from the song. Apparently,
as Hubbard worried over the writing session with Rexha, his wife told him, quote, "Don't
stress about it. If it's meant to be, it'll be."
"I said, 'That's a cool title.' So we took it to the studio and that one kind of fell
out of the sky as we like to say. And it's been a very special song."
Several hours in the studio later, the trio finished the popular song and eventually broke
their previous Billboard record.
Florida Georgia Line's famous "Meant to Be" collaboration with Bebe Rexha was far from
the band's only fruitful creative partnership. Kelley and Hubbard got an assist from rapper
Nelly to help shift their song "Cruise" into the pop arena with a remix. Kelley told Vice
the remix really helped Florida Georgia Line's popularity grow, saying that fans would tell
them, quote, "I didn't like country music until you guys."
Continuing with the pop theme, the guys later worked with Jason Derulo on the song "Women."
In an interview for The Boot, Hubbard said Florida Georgia Line and Derulo enjoyed making
music together:
"There's a brotherhood and a bond there, a friendship that kind of breeds creativity.
We're 100-percent comfortable with each other."
To top that collaboration off, in 2020, Justin Bieber recruited the guys for a remix of the
song "Yummy." So, what's next for Hubbard and Kelley? In support of their fourth album,
Can't Say I Ain't Country, the duo talked about dream collaborations in the future with
Taste of Country. Hubbard told the magazine,
"We've got a lot of respect for Bruno Mars. That'd be straight fire! Someone like Lil
Wayne would be cool too."
Kelley also had his wish list for a favorite artist to work with: Justin Timberlake. Since
Florida Georgia Line already teamed up with the Backstreet Boys more than once, why not
work with another piece of boy band history?
On the way to the top, haters often follow and it's hard to skate by with no criticism.
The biggest knocks against Florida Georgia Line have been the band's image and its lyrical
content. In an article for Vulture, music critic Jody Rosen used the term "bro-country"
to describe the duo. His definition?
"Music by and of the tatted, gym-toned, party-hearty young American white dude."
Rosen even suggested the song "Cruise" was, quote, "the moment when the balance of power
tipped from an older generation of male country stars to the bros."
Similarly, a Billboard cover story talked about Hubbard and Kelley making music that
certain people felt portrayed, quote, "Southern life as a series of drunk, horny Saturday
nights." In a case of perhaps not-so-clever songwriting, the media outlet noted that on
three consecutive albums, the guys wrote lyrics that rhyme "party" with "Bacardi." Even more,
"Of the 12 songs on Anything Goes, two mention Friday, and three mention Saturday. Four mention
whiskey, three include beer brands, and 10 use the word "night.'"
Even the CEO of the band's former label, Big Machine, admitted that Florida Georgia Line
ruled a unique genre:
"We don't use the term 'bro country,' but they do it better than anyone."
Though Florida Georgia Line may never lose its admiration for parties, this duo has started
to settle into a more relaxed family life. In 2019, Tyler Hubbard and wife Haley welcomed
their second child, which left them with the joyous but time-consuming task of caring for
two kiddos under two years old. Hubbard told People magazine,
"It's definitely an adjustment, but we're rocking and rolling. Hayley's a good teammate
and I do what I can. I'm not helpless, but I'm not the one making the milk, so I'll change
a diaper here and there."
The start of 2020 was a bit more mellow, and the family went on a family trip to Kenya.
To surprise Hubbard, Hayley used an elephant for the gender reveal of their third child,
according to People.
Meanwhile, Brian Kelley talked with Big Machine Label Group about his family goals in 2019.
Though he and his wife, Brittany, have five dogs at home, the singer revealed he would
want kids in the future, saying,
"It's definitely in the cards at some point…I think it just comes down to when the good
Lord is gonna make it happen."
In a shout-out to the special women around them, Florida Georgia Line wrote the aptly-titled
song, "Women," with the help of Jason Derulo. While speaking with Taste of Country, the
country duo noted that in addition to their moms and wives,
"A lot of our team is women and we really just love and respect the women in our life."
Have you wondered who that random guy is from Florida Georgia Line's fourth album, Can't
Say I Ain't Country? You know, the one who leaves voice messages on all the skit interludes?
Well, he goes by Brother Jervel or Nugget, but his real name is Chris. Brian Kelley explained
to Taste of Country that Chris is an old friend who would leave crazy voicemails on Tyler
Hubbard's phone in character as Brother Jervel.
While Hubbard apparently told Brother Jervel that he wouldn't pick up the phone on purpose
since he loved the messages so much, Kelley said that when it came time to release the
album,
"We were just thinking, let's add some character, let's show some personality some more and
let him do his thing and intro the songs."
A lot has changed since the early days of Florida Georgia Line. In 2019, Yahoo! Finance
reported that the group's collective net worth was $50 million, putting the band 20th on
its list of the "30 Richest Country Music Stars."
The article went on to note the different ways Kelley and Hubbard have earned all that
dough, noting that, while concerts are big money makers, the duo also enjoys lucrative
endorsement deals with Nitto Tire and Advance Auto Parts. This, of course, is in addition
to those numerous side businesses the pair are involved with
Billboard ranked the duo as #21 in the highest-paid musicians of 2019 thanks to healthy streaming
numbers. Florida Georgia Line reportedly generated nearly 20% of its revenue from its recorded-music
catalog, amassing 2.1 billion streams. Plus, per CMT, the guys played for more than 750,000
fans in 2019, making it the year's second most popular country tour.
Amidst the complicated world affairs in 2020, Hubbard and Kelley used their time to focus
on self-improvement. Hubbard told Esquire,
"We decided it was time to freshen up our sound. It rebirthed the fun in making music.
We can't wait to get to work every day."
This rejuvenated attitude led to the release of the 6-Pack EP including the hard-hitting
"I Love My Country" and summer single "Long Live."
With tours and other events postponed, Hubbard and Kelley found creative ways to continue
to engage with fans. Aimed at the younger set of fans, Florida Georgia Line launched
a TikTok challenge for the song "I Love My Country." With the help from popular TikTok
personalities, the guys started the "FGL Country Challenge" to, quote, "encourage fans to let
loose (while respecting current safety guidelines)," per the band's website. The group compiled
the best videos by fans to create what they call a "montage of hilarious, adrenaline-pumping
reasons why they love their country lifestyle."
Without live shows as an option, Hubbard and Kelley still wanted to get the band together
and play songs for everyone. The men grabbed their cameras, Go-Pros, and invited a few
close musician friends to put together an at-home concert in April. As for FGL's fifth
studio album? As the band said in a post, fans can expect it at the end of 2020.
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