Florida Georgia Line Exhibit to Open at Country Music Hall of Fame
Take deep dive behind the scenes of their career startin January 21.
Arguably one of the most impactful country acts of the last decade, Florida Georgia Line are marking yet another career milestone next year. The duo of Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley will be the subject of their own exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, dubbed Florida Georgia Line: Mix It Up Strong.
Opening January 21 at the Nashville destination, the new exhibit will place FGL’s game-changing story in proper context, starting with childhood and running through their historic country hits. Natives of Florida and Georgia, naturally, the songwriting-and-performing team met as college students at Nashville’s Belmont University and went on to change the course of country history with their record-breaking debut single, “Cruise.” That infamous track featured a polished mix of hard rock, hip hop and country which ushered in a new era and became the genre’s first Diamond-certified hit, for selling 10 million units. You probably know what happened from there — and it’s still going on today.
At the museum, Florida Georgia Line: Mix It Up Strong will tell that story using personal items from the duo’s childhood and career, including clothing, instruments, keepsakes and more. Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum CEO Kyle Young says it makes perfect sense to highlight an act which “expanded the country music audience and created some of the most popular recordings in the genre’s history,” and the duo themselves call the exhibit a hard-to-believe honor.
“I still remember being at the Country Q studio with BK [Brian Kelley] recording ‘Cruise,’ and having this feeling like we had created something special,” Hubbard say. “And I’ll never forget when BK said, ‘We’re gonna sell a million copies of this song.’ I thought he was shooting for the stars then! Neither of us had any idea what would happen next. To be chosen for an exhibit is the ultimate honor as an artist, and we can’t thank the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum enough. I can’t wait for opening day, when we can stand back and take in this blessing with everyone that’s supported us along the way.”
“When Tyler and I decided to go all-in and see where FGL would take us, we lived by two mottos,” Kelley adds. “The first being, ‘Anywhere that would let us play our songs – didn’t matter if it was a bar, coffee shop, club or if the crowd was 10 people or 50 people – we would go just to be able to perform.’ And, the second, ‘Shake a million hands, to make a million fans.’ Fast-forward to today, and all that has happened over the past 11 years. It’s truly mind-blowing. We are both dreamers and always striving to go big. To have the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum now feature our wild ride is surreal and humbling. I couldn’t be more excited about this exhibit and to be able to relive each step of our journey. Here’s to the good times!”
Objects featured in Florida Georgia Line: Mix It Up Strong include but are not limited to:
- A serape Kelley wore in Florida Georgia Line’s 2016 music video for “H.O.L.Y.”
- The Selmer Bundy II saxophone Hubbard played as a child
- Hubbard’s Alvarez AD-60SC guitar, which he customized and played early in the duo’s career
- A diamond certification award from the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) for “Cruise”
- A note from Hubbard’s high school classmates and teachers wishing him luck with his music career in Nashville
- A ball cap Kelley wore when playing on his high school baseball team, the Seabreeze Fighting Sandcrabs
- Kelley’s Takamine GB7C Garth Brooks Signature acoustic guitar, which Kelley used when writing “Cruise” and other hits
- Racing suits and helmets Hubbard and Kelley wore in the 2016 music video for “May We All” (feat. Tim McGraw)
- Ensembles worn by the duo on the cover of their 2019 album Can’t Say I Ain’t Country
- Hubbard’s first guitar, a Sigma DM-3 acoustic guitar, which he acquired in fourth grade
Florida Georgia Line: Mix It Up Strong opens at Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on Friday, January 21, and runs through January 1, 2023.
