When Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley decided to form Florida Georgia Line, they had already been singing together. Both attending Belmont University, the two sang in a worship group together, quickly becoming fast friends.
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After college, Hubbard and Kelley began performing together, starting in small clubs and bars, and working their way up. They were already gaining traction and had released two EPs when they started making Here’s To The Good Times, their freshman album.
Signed to Republic Nashville, both duo members, along with their team, had an idea they were onto something with their unique sound and tight harmonies. But likely no one could have predicted the success they would have with “Cruise“, their debut single.
Written by Hubbard and Kelley, along with their producer, Joey Moi, plus Chase Rice and Jesse Rice, the song took off. Spending 24 weeks at the top of the charts, “Cruise” later became one of a handful of country songs to be certified Diamond, for sales in excess of ten million.
The Story Behind Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise”
From the beginning, “Cruise” was not a typical country song. The uptemp song says, “Baby you’re a song / You make me wanna roll my windows down and cruise / Down a back road blowin’ stop signs through the middle / Every little farm town with you / In this brand new Chevy with a lift kit / Would look a hell lot better with you up in it / So baby you’re a song / You make me wanna roll my windows down and cruise.”
Credited – or blamed – with starting the bro country movement, the catchy melody helped propel the song to the top of the chart. But, at least to Kelley, the song’s success goes back to the lyrics.
“The chorus, I think the magic of it was that it’s a love song. But it’s almost in a poem form,” Kelley tells Billboard. “I love poetry, and I thought it was kind of cool to bookend it — start the chorus with [‘Baby you a song…’] and end the chorus with ‘cruise.’”
It’s Kelley who had the idea for the chorus, when the guys were in the middle of writing another ong.
“I just whipped out, ‘Baby you like a song, make me wanna roll my windows down and cruise,” he recalls. “And we kind of rolled with that, wrote the chorus really quick, filled in the verses.”
When “Cruise” was written, Florida Georgia Line was still a relatively unknown act. For that reason, Rice fought to have another, more established artist record the song instead. Fortunately, Rice lost that battle.
“I wanted Luke Bryan or somebody big to cut it,” Rice admits (via The Boot). “And luckily, they took it and made it what it was. Because at that time, nobody knew who they were. They know now.”
Photo by Frazer Harrison/AMA2012/Getty Images for AMA
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