Florida Georgia Line fans may have a little longer to wait to see them reunite as Tyler Hubbard reveals he is already working on his third solo album despite only just putting out his second.
Hubbard, 37, and Brian Kelley (BK), 38, were country music’s most dynamic duo for over a decade with five studio albums under their belts and chart-topping hits including Cruise, This Is How We Roll and H.O.L.Y.
After announcing they were going on hiatus in 2022, they’ve both since gone on to launch solo careers.
Catching up with The Standard via Zoom on a tour bus in Toronto during some rare downtime as he tours with Kane Brown on his In The Air Tour, Hubbard is happy, and while he admits he’s in serious need of coffee having not long woken up, he’s enjoying every moment.
“It has been so much fun and Kane’s band and crew, everybody I hear is just amazing and we’re having a lot of fun with it so I’m excited to be out here,” he enthuses.
In fact, it was on a bus similar to this that much of second album Strong (out now) was penned.
“I just wanted to make an album that was fun to play live and something that felt good and I wrote a lot of it out on the road last year so I was pulling inspiration from the fans and from the live shows and just really trying to write songs that would connect. Songs that fans could get to know me even more but ultimately just have a good time and I think a lot of this album does just that.”
Reflecting on how he landed on the title Strong for the record, he said it “happened organically”.
“We just kept referring to everything as being ‘strong’; strong mixes, strong takes... photos, whatever it was along the way to the process. It just felt like we kept finding ourselves saying ‘strong’ and calling it ‘strong’ so we finally just said, lets just call the album Strong and it felt like it was appropriate and there was a depth to that word so we just went with it.”
Currently Hubbard has no plans come to the UK, but he’s working on it.
“I couldn’t tell you where I’m going to be next week!” he laughs. “I do really want to get back and am sure it will be at some point this year. I’m excited to come play some shows and hang out for sure.”
He describes playing the London O2 “back in the day” as a “really special” memory of his time here.
“Recently I saw Elton John play his last show in the UK at the O2 as well and it kind of brought me back and was nostalgic as well and like, wow, what a legend and it felt kind of crazy that we had played there at some point. That was a memorable show and I hope to get to do that again some time.”
He didn’t get to meet Elton John sadly, but recalled another celebrity encounter which he claims is the only time he has been star-struck.
“I’ve got to meet a lot of cool people to be honest,” he begins. “I don’t usually get too star-struck but I was at an awards show and one of my favourite artists of all time is Lil Wayne believe it or not and I got to run into him and say ‘what’s up!’ and he knew who we were at the time. I was with BK and we were all together and he came up to us and said ‘hello’ and I was just like ‘oh, that’s pretty cool! That’s Lil Wayne, wow!’”
As a solo artist, Hubbard has already achieved two country top 10 hits with 5 Foot 9 and Dancin’ in the Country from his self-titled debut album which went down a storm upon its release in 2023.
His latest record, which was released on April 12, features the radio-friendly lead single Back Then Right Now.
Hubbard had a surprising admission when asked about future plans, which sadly don’t involve reforming with Kelley any time soon.
“I’m already chipping away at [album number three], I’m always writing songs so it’s a fun place to be and I have a pretty good stack of songs that I’m already excited about for the next project too,” he teased.
Adding: “Creativity kind of hits you in waves so when it hits I try to ride it as long as I can.”
