Seven years ago today, Florida Georgia Line got to add a record-breaking accolade to their superstar resume: best-selling digital country single in history.
In Jan. 2014, the duo’s song “Cruise” had sold over 6.6 million digital downloads. They featured the hit song on their platinum-selling premiere album, Here’s To The Good Times.
Released by Republic Nashville, “Cruise” spent a total of 24 whopping weeks on the “Billboard Hot Country Songs” chart in 2013. Their domination marked it as the longest-running No.1 since the creation of the famed chart.
Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard, the band’s frontmen, wrote the single with Joey Moi, Chase Rice, and Jesse Rice.
Florida Georgia Line Credits Fans Single’s Success
Since they signed with the Big Machine Label Group’s Republic Nashville in July 2012, the group has received numerous honors during their marathon of a career.
Accolades for Florida Georgia Line include CMA “Duo of the Year,” ACM “New Artist of the Year,” and the American Music Award for the all-genre “Single of the Year.”
In addition, Kelly and Hubbard earned four consecutive multi-week hits with “Cruise,” “Get Your Shine On,” “Round Here,” and “Stay.”
“‘Cruise’ gave our listeners a good taste of what we’re all about, sound-wise,” Kelley said at the time.
“It’s a feel-good song, but I think with every song on the album, people are going to be a little bit surprised and will get a glimpse of what we can do. There’s a little bit of hip-hop, a little bit of rock, little bit of this, little bit of that in every song, so they’re not going to get sick of the album. There’s not a song that they would necessarily skip.”
Despite cruising into country music record-breaking history, the duo attributes the song’s success to their loyal fans.
“You know, it’s just been so cool to see our fans rally behind us and support our music,” Kelley said. “It’s amazing to see such passionate fans that stand outside and wait in line to buy tickets. Nobody told us how cool and passionate our fans would be.”
