Florida Georgia Line’s Legacy Came With a Personal Cost

Florida Georgia Line didn’t just make hits — they helped redefine what a hit could sound like in modern country music.

With chart-topping singles and boundary-pushing collaborations, Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley became one of the most successful duos the genre had ever seen.

But behind the stadium tours and record-breaking numbers was something far more fragile: a decade-long friendship that quietly fractured when solo ambitions began to pull them in different directions.

Now, after years of speculation, Hubbard is opening up about what really ended FGL — and why he’s hoping to salvage something even more important than a music career.

A Record-Setting Run

Formed in 2010, Florida Georgia Line wasted no time making their mark. The duo dominated country radio with back-to-back No. 1s, beginning with their breakout 2012 hit “Cruise.”

Read More: Tyler Hubbard: One Text — and a Kenny Chesney Song — Ended Florida Georgia Line

A remix with Nelly pushed the song into pop territory and helped launch a new era of genre-blending country.

Their chart stats speak for themselves:

• 18 No. 1 singles on U.S. and Canadian country charts.
• 100 cumulative weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart — the first country act to hit that milestone.
• Record-breaking runs with songs like “H.O.L.Y.” (18 weeks at No. 1) and “Meant to Be” with Bebe Rexha (50 weeks at No. 1).

From “This Is How We Roll” to “Get Your Shine On,” FGL carved out a lane all their own — full of big hooks, feel-good vibes, and crossover appeal.

But by 2022, after more than a decade together, the duo announced an “indefinite hiatus.” Rumors followed — about politics, personal tension, creative burnout.

According to Hubbard, the truth was more complex — and more human.

One Text Changed Everything

On a recent episode of the Human School Podcast, Hubbard opened up about what really ended Florida Georgia Line — and how a single text from Kelley became the turning point.

At the time, the world was in lockdown. Hubbard’s wife had just given birth to their third child. He was recovering from an ankle injury. Life was intense.

Read More: Tyler + Brian’s Bond Broke When FGL Ended — Now, There’s Hope for Healing

That’s when Kelley sent him a song — and a message that would change everything.

“I said, ‘I feel like it’d be a great [Kenny] Chesney pitch. You ought to send it to Chesney and see if he’d bite on it,’” Hubbard recalled. “And he said, ‘Well, I did actually send it to Chesney. And he passed on it, which I’m taking as a sign.’ And I said, ‘Well, a sign for what?’ And he said, ‘That I should do it.’”

It was clear: Kelley was ready to go solo. Not just in theory — in practice.

Although they had casually discussed solo projects before, Hubbard said this time felt different — and while he supported his partner’s decision, he drew a clear line.

“I told him, ‘I don’t think I deserve 50% of you if I’m willing to give 100,’” Hubbard said.

Not a Breakup — A Boundary

Hubbard is quick to clarify: there was no dramatic fallout. No fight. No betrayal.

“I think people always want there to be a good guy and a bad guy,” he said. “But that’s just not what this was.”

Still, he admits he didn’t handle everything well — including unfollowing Kelley on social media.

“When it happens publicly, and you get millions of people to weigh in on it, it compounds the pressure and the stress,” he said. “It gets people further in their corners.”

Read More: These 8 Country Stars Were Canceled: Here’s What They Did to Earn It

For a duo that built a brand on brotherhood, separating the music from the friendship wasn’t easy.

Rebuilding What Matters

Now, years after the split, Hubbard says he and Kelley are finally taking steps to reconnect — not as a band, but as friends.

“I hadn’t spoken to BK a lot in the last couple of years, but we’re going on a hike next week,” he shared. “I have a desire for that friendship. I miss the guy I was partners with for 10 years. I miss my old roommate, my best man at my wedding — and if nothing else, we should have a relationship.”

He emphasized this isn’t about a reunion tour or reviving Florida Georgia Line.

“It doesn’t have to be what it was, and it doesn’t have to equal FGL doing anything,” he said. “But we need to repair… spend some time together face-to-face. Walk and talk and hang. Go fishing. Get a guitar out.”

Even if the music never returns, the friendship might.

“What I’m hungry for is… let me get my friend back,” he said. “We had so many amazing years of blessings, and doing the craziest things that our wildest dreams couldn’t have imagined. We should be doing life together in some capacity still.”

Florida Georgia Line’s Future?

While fans remain hopeful — especially after this summer’s surprise release of Deep Cuts & Lost Tracks, Vol. 1 — there’s still no official word on a full Florida Georgia Line reunion.

But maybe that’s not what matters right now.

The duo that helped shape a generation of country music may be paused. But Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley’s real story — the one about friendship, boundaries, and healing — might just be starting a new chapter.