Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley spent the 2010s as the biggest duo in country music, split up in 2022, and surprised Nashville by getting back together in 2026.
From a Belmont worship group to Music Row
Hubbard, from Monroe, Georgia, and Kelley, from Ormond Beach, Florida, met in 2008 through a campus worship group at Belmont University in Nashville. After graduating, they gave themselves two years to make it as a duo, moved in together, and played weekend club gigs while working odd jobs to cover rent.
Nickelback producer Joey Moi heard them at a county fair and started recording with them. The sessions became their second EP, "It'z Just What We Do," and the attention that followed landed them a deal with Republic Nashville and Big Machine in 2012.
A record that changed country radio
Their debut single "Cruise" turned into one of the biggest hits country music had seen: over 7 million downloads, the first country song to be certified Diamond by the RIAA, and 24 weeks at No. 1 before a Sam Hunt song finally passed it in 2017. It set the template for what became known as "bro-country," and Florida Georgia Line spent the rest of the decade at the top of it, winning ACM New Artist of the Year in 2013 and CMA Vocal Duo of the Year in both 2014 and 2015.
Their 2017 collaboration with Bebe Rexha, "Meant to Be," became their biggest crossover: a record-breaking run atop the Hot Country Songs chart that stretched to 50 weeks at No. 1, and a peak of No. 2 on the Hot 100.
The split, the solo years, and the reunion
In February 2022 the duo announced an indefinite hiatus. Both later said the real reason was that Kelley wanted to build a solo career, not any falling-out, and they released a greatest-hits album that November to close the chapter.
Hubbard launched a solo run built around "5 Foot 9," his first No. 1 as a solo artist. Kelley, recording as BK, leaned into a beachier sound with the albums "Sunshine State of Mind" and "Tennessee Truth," and started his own label, Nashville South Records.
On June 4, 2026, the two walked out together for a surprise set at CMA Fest in Nissan Stadium and confirmed they were back, opening with "Cruise" in front of a crowd that had no idea it was coming. The performance aired as part of the CMA Fest TV special later that month.
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