“We’re back, baby!”
With just a few words onstage at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium during CMA Fest in June 2026, Florida Georgia Line‘s Tyler Hubbard officially confirmed what fans had been speculating about for months — the country duo has reunited after a years-long hiatus.
The duo’s Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley were college classmates, while the duo took its name from their home states: Kelley was born in Florida, and Hubbard was born in Georgia.
Since their 2012 breakthrough hit “Cruise,” Florida Georgia Line’s Hubbard and Brian Kelley have earned 16 No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart and six No. 1s on the Hot Country Songs chart. The popularity of “Cruise” was also extended when FGL teamed with Nelly for a collaborative version of the song. “Cruise” went on to be certified Diamond by the RIAA. The duo’s hits like “Cruise,” as well as “This Is How We Roll” and “Get Your Shine On,” helped redefine country music, melding in elements of rock and hip-hop to its modern country sound.
Florida Georgia Line earned the CMA’s vocal duo of the year accolade three times, from 2013-2015, as well as a pair of top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, with “Cruise” reaching No. 4 in 2013 and the BeBe Rexha collaboration “Meant To Be” climbing even higher, to No. 2 in 2018. “Meant to Be” also garnered FGL a Grammy nomination for best country duo/group performance. The duo’s most recent album was 2021’s Life Rolls On.
In 2021, Kelley released his solo album Sunshine State of Mind and the following year, the duo took a hiatus. Meanwhile, Hubbard released his self-titled debut solo album in 2023, and Kelley released the projects Tennessee Truth and Ed & Mary Margaret’s Son in 2024. That same year, Hubbard released his second solo album, Strong.
But with the duo reuniting onstage in 2026, and following with a pair of new business deals, it seems FGL is set to continue making its mark on country music.
Below, Billboard looks back at the duo’s career milestones thus far.
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Belmont University (2008)
Kelley and Hubbard met at the Nashville-located university, 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.
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‘Anything Like Me’ EP (December 2010)
As an independent duo, FGL self-released its debut EP, which featured six songs, including “You’re Country” and “Backwoods Beauty Queen.” The pair went on to sign a publishing and management deal with Big Loud Mountain and worked with Nickelback producer Joey Moi on its next EP.
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“Cruise” (2012)
Featured on the 2012 It’z Just What We Do EP, “Cruise” became FGL’s breakout hit. The song hit No. 1 on Hot Country Songs 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 Hot 100, the duo’s first top 10 hit on that chart. The song went on to sell more than 7.5 million downloads by 2020 in the U.S., has earned more than 700 million on-demand streams and has been played on the radio over 1 million times. The duo also signed a label deal with Big Machine Label Group in 2012.
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Awards Galore! (2013)
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, FGL 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.
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Anything Goes album (2014)
The group’s sophomore set became its first to top the Billboard 200 albums chart, and was led by the hit single “Dirt,” which reached No. 11 on the Hot 100.
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Dig Your Roots album (2016)
The duo’s third studio album reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200, and featured a number of high-profile collaborations — including Tim McGraw, Ziggy Marley and the Backstreet Boys — showcasing FGL’s talent for genre-bending.
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“Meant To Be” with Bebe Rexha (2017)
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 on top. The track also soared to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, spending three weeks in the runner-up position.
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Can’t Say I Ain’t Country album (2019)
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.” The pair 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, also reaching No. 4 on the Billboard 200.
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The Acoustic Sessions (2019)
Florida Georgia Line stripped things down for this 17-track acoustic project. The banjo is at the forefront of “Get Your Shine On” instead of electric guitars for a more laid-back feel. Meanwhile, the contributions of prior 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.
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‘6 Pack’ EP (May 2020)
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 2020 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.”
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“No Truth” to Breakup Rumors (November 2020)
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.
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Solo Music Plans (January 2021)
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.
Kelley released his solo album Sunshine State of Mind in June 2021 and Hubbard released his self-titled debut solo album in 2023.
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Tyler Hubbard, Tim McGraw Release “Undivided” (January 2021)
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.”
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Brian Kelley Releases Solo Projects (2021)
Brian Kelley issued his solo debut EP, BK’s Wave Pack, in April 2021, and followed with his full-fledged solo album, Sunshine State of Mind, in June 2021. -
FGL Announces Hiatus, Tyler Hubbard Releases Solo Album (2022/2023)
The duo performed together at the Minnesota State Fair in September 2022, but earlier that year, Hubbard and Kelley told People that the duo were going on hiatus.
“I think ‘taking a break’ is the proper term, as opposed to breaking up,” Hubbard told the outlet during a preview of the opening of the Florida Georgia Line exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame.
“We’re not going our separate ways,” Kelley added. “We’re taking a break from recording our music. We’re being artists. We love creating. And so a couple years back, we started writing without each other and trying different writers, and now we’re both doing that with our music.”
The following year, Hubbard released his debut self-titled solo album.
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Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley’s ‘Hike Heard Round The World’ (January 2026)
Long before FGL officially reunited, there were signs of a potential reunion. In January 2026, Kelley posted a video on Instagram of himself and the words “after going on the hike with T-Hubb” that then flowed into a video of Jon Hamm as his Your Friends & Neighbors character in a club. The video sparked comments from several of their fellow country artists, including HARDY, who wrote, “Do I need to start writing FGL songs again?” and ERNEST, who commented, “The hike heard round the world.”
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FGL Honors Jason Aldean During Surprise Performance (March 2026)
FGL made its first performance in approximately four years, when the pair made a surprise appearance at a party for Jason Aldean during Country Radio Seminar in March 2026. They performed Aldean’s “You Make It Easy,” which Kelley and Hubbard are co-writers on.
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FGL Reunites During CMA Fest (June 2026)
The duo officially reunited onstage during 2026’s CMA Fest, making a surprise appearance at Nissan Stadium in Nashville to perform songs including “Cruise.” The appearance started with Hubbard and Kelley each standing at opposite sides of the stadium, then walking toward each other to a stage at the middle of the stadium. “We back, baby!” Hubbard told the cheering crowd.
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Florida Georgia Line Signs With The Core Entertainment (June 2026)
In June 2026, Florida Georgia Line revealed they signed with The Core Entertainment for management.
The Core Entertainment, led by co-founders/co-CEOs Simon Tikhman and Kevin “Chief” Zaruk, also manages Nickelback, Dan + Shay, Bailey Zimmerman, Nate Smith, Cameron Whitcomb and Josh Ross, among others.
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FGL Signs With CAA (June 2026)
In what might be the strongest signal of potential upcoming FGL shows or even a possible tour, FGL signed with booking agency CAA in June.