Florida Georgia Line was once the biggest thing in country music. They formed in 2010 and eventually played their final show together in September 2022.
The duo consisted of Brian Kelley, who hails from Ormond Beach, Florida, and Tyler Hubbard, who is from Monroe, Georgia.
The cause of the breakup has long been speculated as a political rift between the longtime bandmates. Brian Kelley was very outspoken during the COVID-19 pandemic on one end of the political spectrum, while Hubbard sat on the other end.
Nearly two years after their final show together, the podcast Bussin’ with the Boys sat down with each of the former bandmates to get their side of the story.
Hubbard’s episode dropped on May 7, but was recorded on March 4, while Kelley’s episode was recorded on May 8th and released one day later.
In the description of Kelley’s episode, it reveals that he heard Hubbard’s episode and felt compelled to reach out to the Bussin’ with the Boys hosts Will Compton and Taylor Lewan to tell his side of the story.
Tyler Hubbard says Florida Georgia Line’s split was “unexpected.”
“I mean, for me, it was really unexpected,” he said. “BK came to me and said, ‘Man, I’m really feeling like I want to do a solo thing.’ I’m like we’re just getting out of our first deal. We were kind of in a sweet spot that we had worked ten years to get to.”
Hubbard said he pleaded with Kelley to continue the duo for 5-10 more years and said, “Then we can do the solo thing.”
Hubbard’s side of the story is that Kelley didn’t want to wait that long to release solo music and was “adamant” about splitting up and told Hubbard, “I really need to do this for myself.”
At that point, Hubbard says he was supportive and told Kelley, “whatever you need to do, bro. What do you want from me?” To which Kelley said he just wanted Hubbard’s support.
Hubbard continued, ““He definitely initiated the whole thing from the beginning. When I say it caught me off guard, it wasn’t that we had never mentioned it before. It was just one of those things where I didn’t think it was going to happen then.”
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Kelley went on the podcast one day later to tell his side of the story.
“I don’t ever want to downplay the success and everything that we built. It means a lot to me. It still does,” he said, “It’s very important, not some casual, ‘I wanted to go off on my own.’ It was very intentional about a new plan.”
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Kelley claims that the duo had begun talking about each of them releasing solo music starting way back in 2016.
“Then, every two years after that. I had voiced that I wanted to keep doing FGL. But, for me in my off time, when songwriters are alone, you find even more of yourself. There’s going to be songs over the years that I’m going to write that aren’t going to fit the brand of FGL. So, it was important to me to continue to honor my craft, my artistry, my songwriting,” Kelly said.
He continued, “We had kind of made a deal that once our fifth record is out and our term’s up, we’re going to create more freedom for ourselves. We’re going to keep FGL going and put out some solo stuff. So, it wasn’t a surprise. The marker was in place.”
Kelley went as far as saying he pitched the idea of doing three-hour shows so they could each perform some of their solo material, while also performing as a duo.
They agreed to wait to do anything solo until after Florida Georgia Line was done.
But, according to Kelley, Hubbard didn’t hold true to his word on this agreement. He famously released a single with Tim McGraw in January 2021 titled “Undivided,” which they performed at President Biden’s inauguration.
Kelley says that he got a call from Hubbard one day, where Hubbard told Kelley he had already recorded the song with McGraw and let him know they booked the inauguration as well.
In response, Kelley readied his solo material and dropped his debut solo album in June 2021.
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They cancelled their upcoming tour and separated the duo until they reunited in September 2022 for their last show as a duo.
Host Will Compton asked him, “When did it start to go sideways?”
Kelley replied that “public issues started” right after the 2020 presidential election. Hubbard and his wife, Hayley, both unfollowed Kelley and his wife, Brittney.
In the Bussin’ podcast, Hubbard confirmed this and even revealed why.
“I unfollowed BK for a few days while we were through this political, you know, in the middle of this election and everything going on,” he said. “I even called him and told him, I said, ‘Hey buddy, I love you. And I love you a lot more in real life than on your Stories right now. So … that’s why I’m unfollowing you. Nothing personal. I still love you. You’re still my brother.’ I just didn’t want to see it every time I opened Instagram. And so it wasn’t a big deal.”
Kelley spoke about the Hubbards unfollowing him, saying, “It told me that he liked me better in person than online, That caught me off guard as well. For my brother to have those thoughts and feelings I didn’t want anything to change. You know, we’ll schedule dates out to record, crush some shows, continue to make money for our families on something that we’ve given 13 years, that not many people have the opportunity to even do.”
Whatever the reason, we won’t be seeing a Florida Georgia Line reunion any time soon, if at all. We wish both men nothing but the best. Hubbard released his second solo album, Strong, on April 12 and Kelley’s second solo album, Tennessee Truth, dropped on May 10.