Florida Georgia Line

Florida Georgia Line is an American country music duo comprising Brian Kelley (from Ormond Beach, Florida) and Tyler Hubbard (from Monroe, Georgia). Florida Georgia Line has achieved major success since their inception, and are one of the most successful country music acts of the 2010s.^[5] Their 2012 single Cruise is the best-selling digital country song of all time in the United States as of January 2014.^[6] Florida Georgia Line was formed in 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee. In December 2011, they signed a publishing/production/management deal with Craig Wiseman (Big Loud Shirt Publishing), Kevin "Chief" Zaruk (Chief Music Management), and Joey Moi's (Mountain View Records) partnership, Big Loud Mountain.^[7] Their second EP, It'z Just What We Do, charted on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. They played on the 2012 Country Throwdown Tour, along with acts such as Josh Thompson, Corey Smith, Gary Allan, Justin Moore and Rodney Atkins. They have also opened for Luke Bryan, Brantley Gilbert, Jake Owen, Jason Aldean, Colt Ford and Dierks Bentley. They are currently on their Anything Goes Tour with Thomas Rhett and Frankie Ballard.^[8]

On July 16, 2012, Florida Georgia Line signed with Republic Nashville, part of the Big Machine Label Group.^[9] The duo released their second album, Anything Goes on October 14, 2014.

History

The duo, Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley, both grew up and first gained interest in music through church worship services. Kelley, from Ormond Beach, Florida, was a star pitcher on his high school baseball team, leading to a scholarship at Florida State University; he later transferred to Belmont University after it became clear to him he would not succeed in the sport.^[10] He began writing music inspired by Christian rock group Casting Crowns.^[11] Hubbard, a native of Monroe, Georgia, was a church worship leader who formed a hip hop group, Ingenious Circuit throughout his teens. The two had a myriad of musical interests growing up: "Me and my friends rode trucks, listened to Garth Brooks, Alabama, Lil Wayne and Eminem," said Kelley.^[11]

The duo met at Belmont University in 2008 through a campus worship group, and following graduation, decided to give themselves two years to succeed as a country duo. They moved in with one another and began several odd jobs to pay bills, while playing clubs on the weekend.^[10][12] While independent, they recorded and digitally distributed their first EP, Anything Like Me (2010).^[10] They were discovered by Nickelback producer Joey Moi at a county fair, and the three began entering the studio together.^[11] Unlike typical country music sessions, the group spent days polishing songs, which were collected on the duo's second EP, It'z Just What We Do (2012). In terms of production, the band modeled their sound on bands such as Nickelback, Shinedown, and Three Days Grace, while Moi aimed for each song to resemble hair metal group Def Leppard in structure.^[11] Major labels became interested when the song "Cruise" first aired on satellite radio on "The Highway" channel and it began selling well on iTunes, leading to a deal with Republic Nashville/Big Machine Label Group.^[11]

Musical career

Florida Georgia Line on Jason Aldean's Night Train Tour, 2014

2010: Anything Like Me

Florida Georgia Line's first EP, released December 14, 2010, is a 6 song EP produced with Wesley Walker. All of the songs were written by either Hubbard or Hubbard and Kelley. The EP consists of the songs "You're Country", "Now That She's Gone", "Man I Am Today", "Never Let Her Go" (co-written with "Cruise" co-writer Chase Rice), "Black Tears", and "Backwoods Beauty Queen". The song "Black Tears" was also on Jason Aldean's 2012 album Night Train.^[13]

2012–13: It'z Just What We Do and Here's to the Good Times

The duo's second EP is a 5 song EP produced by Joey Moi on Big Loud Mountain Records and released on May 15, 2012. It starts off with "Cruise" and also includes "Get Your Shine On", "Tip It Back", "Tell Me How You Like It", and the title track "It'z Just What We Do".^[14]

The duo's first studio album, Here's to the Good Times, was an 11 song album produced by Joey Moi on Republic Nashville and released on December 4, 2012. The pair's first full-length, Here's to the Good Times, was the sixth-best-selling album of 2013 (topping Drake and Katy Perry, among others)^[15] "Cruise," the first single, reached number 1 on the Country Airplay chart dated December 15, 2012.^[16] A remix of "Cruise" featuring Nelly later hit number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. FGL's signature, career-making hit, "Cruise," holds two major distinctions: It's the best-selling country digital song of all time, with sales surpassing 7 million, and it spent 24 weeks at No. 1 on Hot Country Songs (the longest reign in the history of the chart, a tally that dates to 1944).^[15]

The album's second single, "Get Your Shine On", was released to country radio on January 21, 2013 and reached number 1 on the Country Airplay chart in May 2013. This song was co-written by the duo along with Rodney Clawson and Chris Tompkins. "Round Here" was released as the album's third single on June 3, 2013 and reached number 1 on the Country Airplay chart in September 2013. The album's fourth single, "Stay", was released to country radio on October 7, 2013. This song was co-written and originally recorded by Black Stone Cherry. It reached number one on the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay chart in December 2013.

A deluxe edition of Here's to the Good Times titled Here’s To The Good Times… This Is How We Roll was released on November 25, 2013.^[17] "This Is How We Roll", a collaboration with Luke Bryan, was released from the deluxe edition as the album's fifth single on February 10, 2014 and reached number 1 on Hot Country Songs in March 2014.

The duo has toured the United States as part of the Dirt Road Diaries Tour featuring Thompson Square and headlining act Luke Bryan.^[18]

In June 2013, the album reached number 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.^[19] The album stayed at the top spot for ten weeks.

2014–present: Anything Goes

The duo revealed on August 15, 2014, that their second studio album would be titled Anything Goes with a release date of October 14, 2014.^[20] The album's first single, "Dirt" was released to country radio and digital sales outlets on July 8, 2014. The album's second single, "Sun Daze" was released to digital sales outlets on September 16, 2014. A week later, the album's title track, "Anything Goes," was released on September 22, 2014. Florida Georgia Line also appeared on the Hot Tours recap recently, landing at No. 3 during the first week of February 2015 with sales totals reported from the duo's Anything Goes tour that launched on January 15. This week the tour hits No. 2 in the ranking with $2.9 million in sales from performances during February at six North American arenas. Gross sales from tour's first 12 arena dates total $5.9 million from 114,859 sold seats.^[21]

Personal lives

In February 2014, Hubbard sustained a back injury in a dirt bike accident.^[22] On December 16, 2013, Brian married his girlfriend of seven months, Brittney Marie Cole. On July 1, 2015, Tyler Hubbard married his longtime girlfriend Hayley Stommel.^[23][24]

Members

• Tyler Hubbard - vocals, guitars (2010-Present)
• Brian Kelley - vocals, guitars (2010-Present)

Discography

• Here's to the Good Times (2012)
• Anything Goes (2014)
• Dig Your Roots (2016)

Tours

Headlining

• Here's to the Good Times Tour (2013–14)
• Anything Goes Tour (2015)

Supporting

• The Summer Never Ends Tour with Jake Owen (2012)
• Dirt Road Diaries Tour (2013) with Luke Bryan
• The Red Tour (2013) with Taylor Swift (12 shows)
• Burn It Down Tour (2014) with Jason Aldean

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Official website
• Florida Georgia Line "Cruise" radio interview on Ben Sorensen's REAL Country