Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley announced in a joint video that the duo will each release solo music in the near future.
On New Year’s Day, Hubbard and Kelley posted a lengthy video to FGL’s official Instagram account. The two country stars spoke via Zoom where they shared their thoughts on 2020, their excitement for the new year, and the continued rumors of their band’s breakup.
As Hubbard says, the pair have never made a video like this to share with their fans before. However, he says they want to be transparent and give their fans some behind-the-scenes information on the band’s ongoings.
Kelley said they finished their fifth album in May 2020, which will release next month in February. He talked about having lots of free time on his hands during the pandemic following the completion of their album. The country musician stopped playing music for a while and “did a lot of soul searching.” He focused on fishing, his dogs, and anything else he could do to kill time.
In August, Kelley started to write songs again. Not long after, he felt like the songs he’d written could be the core of a new solo album.
Brian Kelley Talks About His New Solo Project
Brian Kelley said that both he and his bandmate Hubbard have talked about exploring solo careers for years. Yet, the country duo both agree that the timing has never felt right for the projects. The singer said that changed during his downtime in the last year.
“Kinda where I landed, man, is really falling in love with my guitar, and writing songs again. Even more than ever. I know nobody knows this probably, but me and [Hubbard] had conversations, probably three or four years ago. And this has kinda been a lifelong dream of mine,” Kelley said of creating a solo album. “I just felt, I think I’m supposed to sing these, and probably have a project or an outlet for these to come out on.”
Additionally, Hubbard gave the solo project his blessing, so Kelley said he’s excited to share his work with their fans. He says the new album isn’t finished, but that fans can expect music later this summer.
Tyler Hubbard Squashes FGL Breakup Rumors
Hubbard reiterated some of Kelley’s thoughts on going solo. He said it gives each of the country singers more freedom to be creative and express themselves within FGL and individually.
In fact, Hubbard made sure to emphasize that their future plans are more about freedom of expression than breaking up. Rumors have circulated since November after Hubbard unfollowed Kelley on Instagram over a difference in political opinion. But, the pair claimed at the time that they were not breaking up, and Hubbard doubled down on that in their Zoom call.
“So anyone who says that, you can just tell ’em, hey, from the mouth of Tyler and BK, we’re not breaking up. We’re just venturing out, we’re just doing some individual things that we’re excited about,” Hubbard explained.
Likewise, Hubbard has been working on new music outside of Florida Georgia Line. Although there is no release date set, he mentioned collaborations with other artists who have yet to be revealed. In addition, the pair both shared their excitement to play new shows in 2021 as Florida Georgia Line and possibly solo shows as well.
“… want to share with you guys everything we are working on and excited about for 2021. We want y’all to continue to be a part of our journey and really appreciate all the love and support over the years. We have the best fans in the world which makes it easy to continue making music for y’all and playing shows. Here’s to 2021 being the BEST YEAR YET. Let’s gooooo. See y’all on the road and we’ve never been more excited,” Hubbard and Kelley posted on Instagram.
[H/T Taste of Country]
