Childhood & Early Life
Tyler was born on January 31, 1987, in Monroe, Georgia, US, to Roy Wayne Hubbard and his wife, Amy. He was their eldest child. He has a younger brother, Cameron, and a younger sister, Amelia.
As a young boy, he played different kinds of sports and would spend a lot of time on dirt bikes. He was also associated with the church and would pay several visits every week. It was through church worship services that he developed an interest in music. By the time he reached high school, he would lead the worship service at church.
Tyler would learn the guitar and create hip-hop and rap beats with friends, in his spare time. He could play the acoustic guitar and the piano.
He completed high school from the ‘Loganville Christian Academy,’ graduating in 2005. Thereafter, he relocated to Nashville to start school at ‘Belmont University.’
In 2007, he was introduced to Brian Kelley, through a mutual friend, during a campus workshop group at ‘Belmont University.’ The same year, Tyler lost his father in a helicopter accident that occurred close to his hometown.
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Career
Tyler and Brian became good friends, and their mutual love for music saw them penning down songs together and also playing the guitar. Following graduation, they decided to give music a shot and gave themselves two years’ time to establish themselves as a country-music duo.
While advancing with their passion of performing in clubs on weekends, the two did several odd jobs to sustain themselves. Gradually, they started performing in shows across the south.
They formed their own country music duo, ‘Florida Georgia Line,’ in 2010. On December 14 that year, they self-released their debut EP, ‘Anything Like Me,’ produced along with Wesley Walker. The EP, which was digitally distributed, consisted of six songs, some penned down solely by Tyler and some by both.
In the fall of 2011, Tyler went on to sign a publishing deal with the creative independent country-music publishing company, ‘Big Loud Shirt,’ owned and run by Craig Wiseman.
In December 2011, the duo signed with the label ‘Big Loud Mountain.’ They were spotted by Canadian musician, record producer, songwriter, and audio engineer, Joey Moi, while attending a county fair. Soon, the three started working together and refining songs in the process. Such songs made it to the second EP of the duo, titled ‘It'z Just What We Do.’
‘It'z Just What We Do’ was produced by Joey Moi and released by ‘Big Loud Mountain’ on May 15, 2012. The first of its five songs, titled ‘Cruise,’ released on August 6, 2012, and became a huge hit. Written by Tyler, Brian, Joey, Jesse Rice, and Chase Rice, the song broke two major sales records. As of January 2014, it became the all-time best-selling country digital song in the US.
Renowned recording companies started showing interest after ‘Cruise’ was aired for the first time on the commercial-free country-music radio channel, ‘The Highway.’ With time, the song garnered good sales on ‘iTunes.’ Such phenomenal success of the song led the duo to sign a deal with ‘Big Machine Label Group Records,’ formerly known as ‘Republic Nashville.’
‘Cruise’ remains the all-time best-selling country digital song to date. The song spent a record of 24 weeks on the ‘Billboard’ chart, marking the longest reign in the chart’s history, till Sam Hunt's song ‘Body Like a Back Road’ surpassed the record in July 2017.
On December 4, 2012, the duo came up with their debut studio album, ‘Here's to the Good Times,’ which was released by ‘Republic Nashville.’ ‘Cruise’ found a place in the album as its first single and reached the ‘Billboard Country Airplay’ chart on December 15.
Apart from ‘Cruise,’ ‘Here's to the Good Times’ included all the other four songs from the EP ‘It'z Just What We Do,’ and six new songs. The album debuted at the third spot on the ‘Billboard Top Country Albums’ chart and eventually topped the chart in June 2013. It became the sixth best-selling album of that year in the US and garnered a ‘Platinum’ certification from ‘Music Canada.’ On July 1, 2014, it earned a ‘Double Platinum’ certification from the ‘Recording Industry Association of America’ (RIAA).
Meanwhile, a remix of ‘Cruise’ was released on iTunes, on April 2, 2013, and on pop radio, on April 16, the same year. It was produced by Jason Nevins and featured Nelly. The remix was featured in the music video of the song ‘Hey Porsche’ by Nelly, and it also made it to the deluxe version of ‘Here's to the Good Times,’ titled ‘Here's to the Good Times… This Is How We Roll,’ which released on November 25, the same year.
On January 14, 2014, the duo released their third EP, ‘iTunes Session.’ Tyler faced a dirt-bike accident in February, and as a result, suffered a back injury. On October 14 that year, the duo released their second album, ‘Anything Goes,’ which went on to garner ‘Platinum’ certifications from both ‘Music Canada’ and the ‘RIAA.’ Its first single, titled ‘Dirt,’ ruled the ‘Billboard Hot Country Songs’ chart, becoming the duo’s sixth ‘numero-uno’ hit song.
Tyler, along with Brian, established his own artist-development and music-publishing company, ‘Tree Vibez Music,’ in 2015. Jordan Schmidt was the first writer/producer who signed with the company. Other writers who later signed with the company include James McNair, Daniel Ross, Cameron Montgomery, Corey Crowder, and RaeLynn.
Basking in the success of being part of one of the most thriving country-music acts, Tyler only furthered his fame as the duo released their third studio album, ‘Dig Your Roots,’ produced by Joey Moi. Released on August 26, 2016, the album debuted at the second spot on the ‘Billboard 200’ chart and aced the weekly ‘US Top Country Albums’ chart. It received a ‘Platinum’ certification from the RIAA.
