- April 19, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
Florida Georgia Line makes Ormond Beach parents proud.
Of all the possible people he could have asked to be his date to the 47th-annual Country Music Awards, Florida Georgia Line singer Brian Kelley picked a woman who drew plenty of comments.
Decked out in a new dress, her hair done perfectly, she walked from group to group on the red carpet, and she heard it, too: “Aww, you brought your mom! That’s so cute!”
For Mary Margaret Kelley, Nov. 6 was a day to remember in Nashville. After arriving in a limousine, she got to meet Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Vince Gill and others. And, she got to watch her son win two prestigious awards: Duo of the Year and Single of the Year. Tyler Hubbard, Brian Kelley’s partner in Florida Georgia Line, also brought his mother (Amy Clotfelter) to the show.
“I kept thanking him, and he said that’s what they wanted to do,” Mary Margaret Kelley said. “It’s going to be hard to top that. It was a wonderful night.”
She attended the awards show with her husband, Ormond Beach Mayor Ed Kelley, and the event was an opportunity for them to reflect on their son’s rise to fame and fortune.
Not long ago, Ed Kelley said, the band was pulling a car wash trailer and eating McDonald’s on the road, driving all night and sometimes performing for free — all because they believed in themselves and had a passion for their music.
At one point, Brian had to make a phone call home asking his parents if they could help him for the next six months or so.
“It ended up being 18 months, but who’s counting?” Ed Kelley said with a laugh. “We helped him because of his willingness to work.”
Ultimately, they were discovered by Seth England, who worked for legendary songwriter Craig Wiseman, in Nashville. It was their big break.
But because they were still struggling to make it, the duo had to show up for the meeting with Wiseman while they were still in the same clothes they had been wearing to paint a condo.
“Seth was embarrassed, thinking, ‘I can’t believe they’re showing up in their work clothes,’” Ed Kelley said. “Well, Craig Wiseman loved it.”
Ed and Mary Margaret Kelley are proud of the duo because they still haven’t forgotten their humble beginnings. They sign autographs and take pictures with fans. Four girls showed up at one show in New York, only to find out that their $100 tickets were counterfeit. Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard found out about it and got them in for free.
“Some people could have said, ‘You’re out of luck,’” Ed Kelley said. “But that’s just how they roll.”
He said the duo is aware of the pitfalls of becoming famous. “People that let the status of where they are and what they’ve done change what they are, and I don’t think in either one of these two that’s going to happen,” Ed Kelley said. “One of the biggest compliments that we hear is that they’re both such nice kids, and you can’t ask for anything better than that.”
