The duet topped Country Airplay, while dominating Hot Country Songs for a record 50 weeks.
Brian Kelley (L) and Tyler Hubbard (R) of Florida Georgia Line pose backstage with Bebe Rexha during the 53rd Academy of Country Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 15, 2018, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Jason Merritt/ACMA2018/GI
On April 28, 2018, Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line’s “Meant to Be” topped Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.
The song marked the 13th of 16 Country Airplay leaders for FGL, the duo of Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley. For Rexha, the pop star reigned in her first foray into country music.
Hubbard and Rexha co-wrote the song with David Garcia and Josh Miller.
The team-up between Rexha and FGL became a massive hit. In addition to leading Country Airplay, it ruled Hot Country Songs for 50 weeks, the longest reign since the chart launched as an all-encompassing genre survey in October 1958. It also crowned Adult Pop Airplay, hit Nos. 2 and 3 on Pop Airplay and Adult Contemporary, respectively, and reached No. 2 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.
“I never thought that I’d have a pop/country crossover song,” Rexha told Billboard in 2018. “My thing is going with feel and not creating any boundaries for myself.”
Rexha added that the team-up came about only because a session that FGL had scheduled with Charlie Puth was canceled. “That just goes to show you,” she mused, “that all the best things are unexpected.”
Rexha scored her fourth Hot 100 top 10 with her David Guetta collab “I’m Good (Blue),” which reached No. 4 this January. It has crowned Hot Dance/Electronic Songs for 31 weeks running. Her third studio album, Bebe, arrived today (April 28).
The FGL members are in the midst of solo projects: Kelley is touring this spring, making his next stop May 26 in Daytona Beach, Fla. Also on the road, Hubbard will perform next tomorrow (April 29) in Detroit.
Hubbard’s latest single, “Dancin’ in the Country,” has become his second top five hit on Country Airplay. He led the list for a week in November with “5 Foot 9.” With the latter, Hubbard made history as the first artist to have topped the chart, which began in 1990, both with a duo/group and as a soloist.
