Zac Brown Band is expanding from a party of eight to a party of nine, all while making some history for the band. On Thursday, the Grammy-winning country group announced that multi-instrumentalist Caroline Jones is officially joining Zac Brown Band as a full-time member. Jones joins a group that already includes Zac Brown, Coy Bowles, Clay Cook, Daniel De Los Reyes, Jimmy De Martini, Chris Fryar, John Driskell Hopkins, and Matt Mangano. She is the band’s first and only female member since its inception back in 2002.
ZBB shared the exciting news on Instagram, where they told fans they were “excited to officially welcome [Caroline Jones] to the ZBB family!” In a separate quote from Zac Brown himself, which was first shared with Entertainment Tonight, Brown said “it feels like Caroline has been part of Zac Brown Band for years,” noting that Jones “has done a few tours with us and has also been in the recording studio creating with us.” He continued, “She is family and a badass musician. She sings the highest and works the hardest.”
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Jones isn’t completely unfamiliar to fan of the country music group. The instrumentalist previously joined the Zac Brown Band on their 2017 tour, during which she opened for the eight-piece band. She returned for the next two consecutive tours and has also served as a special guest band member on several of the band’s tours and has performed with them at the 2022 CMA Fest, the 2021 CMA Awards, and when they opened for the Rolling Stones at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Jones reflected on her history with the band when sharing the exciting news with fans.
“After 3 years as their opening act and 2 years touring in the band, I am honored to announce that I’ll be joining the [Zac Brown Band] as an official member. Exciting (and busy!) times ahead as I perform and create with ZBB while continuing to build my own career. Thank you all for your support,” she wrote online. “Playing with ZBB makes me a better musician, vocalist, songwriter, performer, and human. I live for each of those things and I am humbled that they believe I add to the outfit.”
In a statement to ET, Jones said that “joining Zac Brown Band as an official member is the greatest honor of my career so far. To be validated not only as a singer and songwriter, but as a musician and member of the family, means more to me than I can put into words.”
