Tyler Hubbard Says 'Unexpected' FGL Breakup Wasn't Initiated by Him While Brian Kelley Claims It's 'Not a Beef Thing'

• Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley have a different take on what ended their country duo Florida Georgia Line
• Each musician goes on to release their other solo albums: Hubbard’s Strong in April and Kelley’s Tennessee Truth in May
• Each of them appeared – separately – on Work with the boys podcast this week

Tyler Hubbard claims that disbanding Florida Georgia Line wasn’t solely his decision, but more Brian Kelley’s call — while Kelley has his own take on the matter.

The former duo each joined Work with the boys podcast this week, Hubbard, 37, on Tuesday, May 7, and Kelley, 38, on Thursday, May 9, to shed some light on the breakup of their country duo with hosts Will Compton and Taylor Lewan.

“It was really unexpected for me. But BK came to me and said, ‘Man, I really feel like I want to do a solo thing. And I’m like, ‘Really?’ We were just getting out of our first job. We were at a good point where we had been working for 10 years,” Hubbard said Tuesday. “I say, ‘Why don’t we ride this thing out for another five years, another 10 years, and then we can do a solo thing or whatever?’

“But again, I wanted to support him. He was adamant, like, ‘No, now is my time. I really need to do this for myself.’ And I say, ‘Well, hey, whatever you gotta do, bro. Like, what do you want from me?’ He says, ‘I just want support.’ So I said, OK, you got it,” Hubbard said, adding that he dismissed the idea that they might “do a reunion tour” someday later.

Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley in Las Vegas in September 2021.

Sam Morris/Getty

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“He definitely started the whole thing from the beginning,” Hubbard explained. “When I say he caught me off guard, it’s not like we never mentioned it before. I just didn’t think it would happen at the time.”

As Hubbard continued the interview, he admitted to Compton and Lewan that the duo’s split felt like a “divorce,” explaining, “BK had this thing where he still wanted to do Florida Georgia Line, but he wanted to do a solo thing as well, and he had to tell him myself … I can’t do both.”

This led to Hubbard asking his partner to decide between Florida Georgia Line or separate solo tracks, noting that he did not have the “capacity for two careers”.

Florida Georgia Line’s Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard speak onstage during FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE LIVE: Global Livestream Event “LIFE ROLLS ON FROM THE FGL HOUSE” in association with Amazon Music, BMLG Records & CMT to benefit The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee’s Nashville Neighbors Fund at FGL House in February 2021 in Nashville. John Shearer/Getty

During Kelley’s interview on Thursday, he immediately said that their split was not a “really bad situation.” He then explained that he wanted to continue with their duo, but use his “free time” to work on his own songs in “honor [his] art,” noting that “he’s been saying that for a long time.”

“It wasn’t a surprise because the marker was after the deal was done,” Kelley explained. “I had the idea that when the deal was done Tyler would get a solo deal with the same record company, I would get a record deal and we would renegotiate a new record deal.”

Kelley said he floated the idea of ​​doing three-hour long concerts, with no opener, that would include songs by Florida Georgia Line, as well as space for each of them to perform solo music.

“It’s not just that I had to have a solo career — I would say it like, ‘I want a solo outlet, as a creative, as a songwriter.’ I wanted to reshape that part of the story. It’s getting sticky that things are going where? I think it’s easy to understand. For me, it’s not an emotional thing when we talk about work and creativity.”

New Album Out, Tyler Hubbard Loves Solo Life: ‘Wouldn’t Change It’ (Exclusive)

Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard perform in February 2022 in Nashville. John Shearer/Getty

Kelley then shared that the two have decided to wait and pursue solo music until they release their fifth album and their recording contract expires. But then Hubbard joined Tim McGraw for a single, “Undivided,” in January 2021, which they performed at President Biden’s inauguration concert later that month. Kelley said he was “surprised [and] shocked,” adding “I didn’t think it was a good look, that I did it or that he did it.”

But until June 2021, when Kelley’s album Sunny state of mind out, the duo finished, explaining how he and Hubbard talked about it after the fact. As a result, the pair canceled their upcoming tour and went their separate ways, until their last show more than a year later.

Florida Georgia Line played their last show together in September 2022 after 12 years as a duo. In addition to ongoing discussions about their solo careers, the concert came amid rumors of a brief politically-tinged feud on social media in 2020. Both addressed the issue during their interviews and denied that their differences of opinion during the 2020 election were not part of their split.

Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard at the ACM Awards in April 2017. Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

Hubbard explained that they “didn’t talk about [politics] very honest from the start. So a lot of that allowed, like, people to make up stories like this,” noting how adding politics to it made him an easy target.”

Kelley added that Hubbard and his wife, Hayley, unfollowed him and his wife, Brittney, on social media after the election, but their political differences then began to “frame that” as the main cause of the feud.

Brian Kelley on 10 Years of Marriage to Wife Brittney: ‘She Would Love Me If I Directed a Blockbuster’ (Exclusive)

Florida Georgia Line’s Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard appear on ‘Songland’. Trae Patton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty

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Hubbard released his second solo album, StrongApril 12. Kelley’s second solo album, Tennessee Truth, falls on May 10.

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Source: HIS Education