Florida Georgia Line member Tyler Hubbard turns another year older on Friday, Jan. 31, celebrating his 33rd birthday with his wife, Hayley, and kids Olivia and Luca by his side.
Since launching their debut single “Cruise” with bandmate Brian Kelley in 2012, Florida Georgia Line has become one of the biggest acts in country music today, selling out stadiums and notching hit after hit, including the recent juggernaut “Meant to Be.” Last year, the duo released their fourth studio album, Can’t Say I Ain’t Country, and they are currently working on the next album and getting ready to hit the road with Kenny Chesney.
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Read on to learn a little more about the Georgia half of Florida Georgia Line.
He got his start in music by playing worship music in church
Hubbard grew up in Georgia, where he was the youth worship leader for a church in his hometown of Monroe. He eventually met his future bandmate, Kelley, in a campus worship group at Belmont University in Nashville.
“We had a special connection right from when we met,” Hubbard told Glamour magazine of his bond with Kelley. “During our very first song we knew there was something special there and just continued to write. We both had the same dreams and goals and wanted to do it together. It was a pretty instant connection, really a God thing, that’s for sure.”
He proposed to his wife, Hayley, in a helicopter
Hubbard and his wife tied the knot in 2015 in a gorgeous ceremony in Sun Valley, Idaho after Hubbard popped the question during a private helicopter ride in 2014.
To make an FGL pun, it’s clear the pair’s relationship was meant to be, with Hayley revealing on her blog, The Vogue Trip, that she almost left Nashville before something made her change her mind.
“When I quit my job at Merrill Lynch and was about to move back to California, a friend of mine told me to pray about the move and that he didn’t think I should leave,” she wrote. “So, I did. I asked God to make it clear. As I was signing my Cali lease the next day, my boss came up to me and said he would double my salary if I would stay. I looked up and almost laughed in his face. I had gotten my clarity. One month later that same friend, who is now my husband, gave me my last first kiss. Wow am I glad I stayed.”
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He’s a fan of the TV show ‘This Is Us’
In a feature for Us Weekly, Hubbard shared that he always watches the NBC drama This Is Us, though he told Glamour that he’s also a fan of Dallas. When he was a kid, his favorite cartoon was Scooby-Doo, while Kelley preferred Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Hubbard also told Us that another surprise for fans might be that he has a sneaker addiction, though he would “never be caught dead” wearing Crocs.
His favorite drink is FGL House’s version of a Moscow Mule
In 2017, Florida Georgia Line opened their bar and restaurant, FGL House, in downtown Nashville. It’s there that Hubbard can enjoy his favorite drink, which is the bar’s version of a Moscow Mule made with FGL’s Old Camp Whiskey and ginger beer.
With the Nashville location now a staple downtown, the duo is seemingly looking to expand their restaurant reach, previously teasing an FGL Boat House location in Kelley’s native state of Florida.
His father was killed in a helicopter crash
When Hubbard was a sophomore in college, his father, Roy, was killed in a helicopter crash in the family’s backyard. Hubbard was home visiting at the time and saw the crash happen. His dad was just 43 at the time.
“(My dad) flew in, and something happened, man,” Hubbard said during the Florida Georgia Line episode of the CMT biography series Inside Fame. “And to this day, we don’t know exactly what happened, but they came in short and ended up clippin’ a tree and went down right in the backyard.”
“I ran outside and saw the whole thing,” he continued. “I have that image ingrained in my brain forever of what we saw that day and how fragile the human body is and how fragile life is. As I get older, it’s funny the things that I learned from him that I didn’t even know I learned — how to treat a lady. By far, he was the best husband.”
He grew up riding dirt bikes
The Georgia native has been riding dirt bikes since he was a child, and his love of the dirt biking has extended into his adult life, with the singer sharing he once built a dirt bike track in his backyard. He’s also a fan of pretty much any outdoor activity and often goes on hikes, hits the slopes and travels the world with his family.
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His favorite place to get breakfast is Waffle House
A Southern staple, Waffle House is Hubbard’s favorite place to fill up for breakfast, with the singer often opting for the chain’s cheese ‘n eggs. Kelley is also a fan of Waffle House, though the Florida native prefers his cheese ‘n eggs with grilled chicken in a wrap. The singer also named pizza as his favorite food and said his last meal would be pizza and ice cream.
FGL used to hide their whiskey in beer bottles
FGL launched their line of Old Camp Whiskey, a peach pecan offering, in 2016, but there was once a time when they had to keep their fondness for the drink under wraps.
“”When we started, we lived in a small house together that we called ‘the fun house’ with three of our other buddies,” Hubbard recalled to Page Six of their early days. “Those were the days of our lives that really developed our love for whiskey … it was our drink of choice.”
“We would go to [a hotel] and drink a bottle of beer and then pour our whiskey into our beer bottle so it didn’t look like we were drinking straight whiskey,” he added. “Then we would sit on stage and drink that bottle of whiskey.”
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He is more of a morning person than Kelley
While FGL’s high-energy shows are a workout in and of themselves, Hubbard and Kelley make sure to get their fitness in during the day, though Hubbard kicks things off a bit earlier than his bandmate.
“Tyler all the way!” Kelley told Today when asked which FGL member is the morning person. “He gets up and works out every morning.”
Photo Credit: Getty / Mindy Small
