According to recent reports, Brian Kelley, half of the famous country music outfit Florida Georgia Line, recently revealed that politics could have contributed to the duo’s split. The band had enjoyed success since the early 2010s, redefining the contemporary sound of country music. However, the duo would eventually come to an end in 2022, and Kelly and his bandmate Tyler Hubbard decided to go on different paths.
Since the band split up, there has been speculation that a political rift between Kelley and Hubbard played a substantial role. Going back to the last election, when America’s political polarization had reached a boiling point throughout American society, Hubbard even unfollowed Kelley on social media amid a politically charged disagreement.
Reportedly, Hubbard was a Biden supporter who even performed at his inauguration. In contrast, Kelley is seemingly a Trump supporter. “I unfollowed BK for a few days while we were in the middle of this election and everything going on. And, and I even called him and told him, I said, ‘Hey buddy, I love you. And I love you a lot more in real life than on your stories right now. That’s why I’m unfollowing you. Nothing personal. I still love you. You’re still my brother,’” Hubbard said in 2020.
Furthermore, Kelley even revealed that his display of the American flag may have even “triggered” Hubbard. In recent years, many progressive members of the left have expressed increasing amounts of disdain for the nation’s flag. “I think one of the things that triggered him was, you know, I had an American flag and another flag flying on a close friend’s post to about 12 people. In my driveway,” according to Kelley
Moreover, the ostensibly conservative half of Florida Georgia Line also slammed the pandemic-era COVID-19 protocols. Kelley pointed out the apparent hypocrisy in the enforcement of rules, where protests and riots in the name of liberal causes were deemed acceptable, but the rest of society was prohibited from carrying out their lives normally.
“I posted a couple things but I’m proud that I posted it. I said, ‘You know I’m not sure why we’re still locked down if there’s going to be, you know, big protests in the streets and big celebrations, but we can’t go do concerts?’ I don’t really understand that and I was backing the blue-collar hard workers,” Kelley said about the pandemic.
Kelley further added that he wanted to speak for members of society whose voices went unheard during the unprecedented time in human history. “The people that don’t have a voice. People that need that kind of backup support. People like my dad. The way that I grew up. You know what I’m saying. People that were out of business. Out of work. In a tough spot losing everything that they’d work for,” he said.
Earlier this year, Fox News reported that, in the wake of the Florida Georgia Line breakup, Kelley is seeking to focus on traditional values such as family and God. “At the end of the day, my Tennessee truth is that, you know, I’m no different than those that are going to be jamming this record. Like I mentioned, you know, we’re in the same headspace on what our values are and how we navigate our life through fishing, hunting, the love of our lives, of family time, you know, God. We love this country. And we’re hard workers,” he said.
Watch footage of a pro-life country music song released by 18-year-old up-and-coming country music, Rachel Holt, that has topped country music charts in iTunes:
Featured image credit: jenniferlinneaphotography from Denver, CO, USA, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Florida_Georgia_Line_(48916181946).jpg
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