Jim Abbott|The Daytona Beach News-Journal
DAYTONA BEACH —As country music fans worldwide react this week to the apparent break-up of powerhouse country duo Florida Georgia Line, the news has been particularly personal for one super-fan in Volusia County.
“Whatever disagreements they have, we were hoping they’d be able to pick up and tour next year,” said former Volusia County Council Chair Ed Kelley, the father of Florida Georgia Line singer Brian Kelley, a Volusia County native who was raised in Ormond Beach.
From 2016:'DREAM COME TRUE'Brian Kelley, Florida Georgia Line success story started in Ormond Beach
“We were holding out hope it wouldn’t be the last one,” the elder Kelley said of a Wednesday show by FGL at the Minnesota State Fair that reportedly was the duo’s final performance. “I know Brian was hoping they could work it out.”
At the Minnesota show, FGL’s Tyler Hubbard confirmed the news to fans from the stage.
“This is our last official concert as Florida Georgia Line," Hubbard told the crowd, according to media reports in People and other outlets. “Let's see what we got left in the tank."
Split had been topic of speculation around Florida Georgia Line
It’s a split that has been a topic of speculation since late 2020.
Hubbard and Kelley posted a video in early 2021 saying they planned to pursue solo projects, while continuing to work on FGL music. That announcement preceded the February 2021 release of their fifth album, "Life Rolls On."
A year later, Brian Kelley discussed the partnership again with People magazine.
"We're not going our separate ways," he said at the time. "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 singer hasn’t yet offered a statement this week. There was no immediate response on Friday to emails to his publicists from The News-Journal seeking comment from Kelley on Florida Georgia Line.
In Ormond Beach, Kelley’s father on Friday said that the singer was doing fine.
“Brian is enjoying what he’s doing,” the elder Kelley said. “He loves to write music, to be involved with the fans. He just enjoys doing that, being able to be at home and write. If he could, he would write all the time. That goes all the way back to his days at FSU. He really enjoys writing the music, being out and sharing the music with the fans and the people.”
For the next month, that will involve performing for intimate audiences during a 20-show residency at Tribe Kelley Surf Post, the surf shop that the singer owns with his wife, Brittney, in Grayton Beach, near where the couple lives on the Florida Panhandle between Destin and Panama City.
The singer also is working on new music, his father said.
In solo music, Brian Kelley celebrated his roots
A 2004 graduate of Seabreeze High School, Kelley launched his solo career in the summer of 2021 with the well-received “Sunshine State of Mind,” an album steeped in recollections of his formative years in Volusia County.
The video for the album’s signature song, “Florida Boy Forever,” incorporated familiar sites in Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach and Flagler Beach, as well as cameos by his father and his old Seabreeze High School baseball coach, Anthony Campanella.
Behind the camera: With 'Florida Boy Forever,' Ormond Beach native Brian Kelley celebrates his roots
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This summer, Kelley released another single and video for the patriotic anthem “American Spirit.”
If it is the end of the road for Florida Georgia Line, the duo leaves behind a formidable legacy.
Starting with their 2012 debut single, “Cruise,” FGL has scored 19 career No. 1 hits.
Florida Georgia Line also is the only country act to receive two diamond-certified singles from the Recording Industry Association of America, for the 11-times platinum “Cruise” and the 10-times platinum single “Meant to Be.”
The duo landed 47 entries on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, including six No. 1s. In addition, FGL’s “Meant to Be” (with pop star Bebe Rexha) holds the record for the most weeks spent at No. 1 on the chart at 50 weeks. The pair also holds the record for most combined weeks at No. 1 on the chart with 106 weeks.
According to Big Machine Label Group Records, FGL has earned more than 13.2 billion global streams and sold more than 40 million tracks.
“They’ve had a great run, a shocking run,” said Ed Kelley. “They put on great shows, they involved the fans and had great support from their fans. Maybe now they will go and accomplish things in a different way. We just wish the best for both of them.”
