Although Florida Georgia Line's Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley may be taking time to focus on their own projects, the two are still a "package deal," Hubbard tells ET.
ET's Nischelle Turner spoke with both Hubbard and Tim McGraw about their new song, "Undivided," a timely anthem Hubbard wrote which is inspired by recent headlines of national unrest. Hubbard said that although he and Kelley are doing separate projects, they're definitely not breaking up.
"We've stayed in really good communication about it and we both feel a lot of freedom, a lot of creative juices flowing, a lot of inspiration, and so it's fun," he notes of him and Kelley making music apart from one another. "We've always been a package deal, we've always done every single thing together, so it really does feel good to say, 'BK, go make your solo project and go have fun with it, and I'll go write songs and see what collaborations happen and we'll just just have our own voice and make our own mark for a little while,' and then in the meantime, still releasing our fifth album in February, and, you know, continuing the tour. So, you know, we're still gonna be doing a lot together and playing for the fans and singing the hits, but it's been fun to venture out and have a little bit of individuality as we go."
Hubbard acknowledged that fans have been wondering about the two's relationship, which is why he was transparent with fans in a Zoom call he posted on social media earlier this month about their solo endeavors.
"I told BK, I'm like, 'Dude, we gotta make a video for the people 'cause we hadn't told them anything and everybody's confused and wondering what was going on. They're definitely gonna wonder what's going on when me and Tim put a song out, so we gotta control the message and tell them the truth and let's get that thing out there.' So I was happy we did that," he shares.
Hubbard's new song with McGraw drops on Wednesday, along with the video. Hubbard wrote the song while he had COVID-19 and was under quarantine in his tour bus outside of his house.
"I was on the bus for 12 days uninterrupted with my thoughts, my emotions, my feelings, my guitar, and so I wrote a whole bunch of songs and it was a blast doing it, it made the time go by really quickly," Hubbard shares. "I just got to do what I love and in the meantime, really kind of channeled where I was at emotionally and as a country and all the things. This song kind of fell out of the sky as I like to say, felt like it was a gift from God."
After writing the song, Hubbard sent it to McGraw to get his feedback, and McGraw loved it. Two days later, they were in the studio together recording vocals and making a video of the experience.
"So, we can't wait, it's a huge honor to have this message and be able to share it with the world and for me to be able to do it with Tim is just incredible," Hubbard shares.
As for McGraw, he recalls, "When I heard it, one of the first things I thought of when it hit me -- and how you always say, it hit me right between the eyes? But it hit me in the heart because what it made me do, was it made me reflect on myself, and it was more internal for me, it made me think, 'Am I getting lost in the darkness here? Is all this going on, is it putting some light out of me, and am I letting it?' And this song really made me think about it."
McGraw said the message of the song was about hope.
"We have a great country full of great people and this song is about the social fabric that we rely on and the social contracts that we rely on to get along in this world, in this life, in this community together," he explains. "And I think we've gotten away from that a little bit and I think we're going to get back to it, and hopefully, if this song is just a drop in the bucket to help in that along the way, then I think Tyler and I would be very proud."
Meanwhile, both Hubbard and McGraw have been spending plenty of quality time with their families while under quarantine. In September, Hubbard and his wife, Hayley, welcomed their third child together, son Atlas. McGraw is of course married to fellow country superstar Faith Hill, and they share three daughters together -- 23-year-old Gracie, 22-year-old Maggie and 19-year-old Audrey. In December, McGraw made headlines when he shared pictures from the family's amazing Game of Thrones-themed dinner party.
"Anything to make my girls happy," he tells ET. "Well, you know, we couldn't go anywhere, you know, we were all at the house and we were trying to think of interesting things to do to just have fun. We were there for a couple of weeks and we thought, 'Well, let's just think of some stuff to have fun,' and we had a blast doing it. It was great fun. Made a lot of great memories."
"I don't know, they just about wore me and Faith out, so I don't know, we're gonna put some theme dinners off for a while," he jokes of his daughters.
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