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With Florida Georgia Line officially back together and 2027 tour dates seemingly on the horizon, many fans are quizzically looking back and wondering why they split in the first place. The answer - surprisingly - might involve Kenny Chesney.
The story goes that, during the COVID-19 quarantine, Brian Kelley started writing songs that felt like a natural fit for a beach-driven, Jimmy Buffett-inspired solo project. When he approached Tyler Hubbard about exploring a solo career alongside FGL, Hubbard was adamant that he couldn't continue with the duo if he felt like BK's heart wasn't fully invested in FGL while he pursued his solo dreams.
As a result, they agreed to go on a hiatus, with various rumours and conjecture then shrouding the split involving political tension between the duo, bad feeling over THubb's performance at President Joe Biden's inauguration with Tim McGraw and more.
But as both Hubbard and Kelley allude to in separate interviews, it seems Chesney had an unexpected - and unintentional - hand in the duo's decision to temporarily part ways.
During an interview with The Human School late last year, Hubbard explained that Kelley came to him with ‘Boat Names’, underlining that this felt like the first piece of the puzzle for his solo career. When Hubbard suggested he pitch it to Chesney, due to the beachy narrative, Kelley supposedly responded, “‘Well, I did actually send it to Chesney, and he passed on it, which I’m taking as a sign’”, with Hubbard responding, “‘Well, sign for what?”. Hubbard then recalls how Kelley explained to him that he felt like this was a sign that he should go ahead with a solo career.
Hubbard shares how he felt about the situation, “I’m not willing to do Florida Georgia line and then have a direct competitor that’s my partner doing the same exact thing. I also told him, ‘I don’t think I deserve 50 percent of you if I’m willing to give a 100’”.
He made it clear, even back in December 2025, that there was no lingering bad blood, though, with both members of FGL making peace with it, “There’s not a good guy, bad guy - which everyone wants to do on the internet. BK stuck to his convictions and led with his gut…I set a boundary that I wasn’t willing to cross. And it is what it is…honestly, we’ve both accepted it way before the internet accepted it”.
In an earlier interview, Kelley shared his own side of the story, confirming that he sent the song to Chesney, but clarified that he wasn't sure if the ‘I Go Back’ hitmaker ever listened.
In an interview with Zak Kuhn, Kelley reflects, “Yeah, first song I wrote for the project - and I didn't know I was working on a project, but that's what kind of enlightened me was ‘Boat Names’. I wrote that August 25th 2020, and was holding onto that title for eight or nine months. I had a little verse melody and the first line or two”.
He continues, “Right when [we wrote] that song...I go, ‘Babe, we wrote something special’. Like that's my song”, before emphasising why he interpreted Chesney's decision to pass on ‘Boat Names’ as a bigger sign about his career-path, “I think I low-key pitched it to Kenny...I don't even know if he heard it...The sign was, I go, ‘I'm pretty sure this is for me, this is my song. However, if Chesney wants it, maybe he could have it. But if he passes, that's my sign’, you know?”
The Florida native concludes, “That was the sign...It's just so personal, you know? And so, I wrote that, wrote ‘Made By The Water’, ‘Good Day’, ‘By Boat’ all pretty quickly. And had a little chunk of, you know, four or five songs, and that was it, man. I was like, ‘I'm not waiting. I can't wait’. You know, life is short, if the pandemic taught us anything, [it's] live life, love who you love, chase dreams and I just wanted to honour my creativity and my artistry, and prove to myself that I can do it, and wherever it takes me, I'm cool with it. But at the end of the day, it's super fulfilling to know that I'm doing the right thing and I'm following my calling”.
Thankfully, it all seems to be water under the bridge, with both BK and THubb enjoying successful solo careers, while they prepare to team up in 2027 for a massive FGL reunion tour. It's hard not to wonder what might have happened if Chesney had wanted to record ‘Boat Names’ for himself all those years ago, and whether we would still have had to endure four FGL-less years. Either way, the ‘Cruise’ chart-toppers are finally back, and we're keeping our fingers crossed there's new music on the way from the trailblazing duo, as well as a blockbuster run of shows.
