Kelley was born on August 26, 1985 in Ormond Beach, Florida, and is the son of Ed and Mary Margaret Kelley. Growing up, Kelley enjoyed sports and writing and spent most of his time playing baseball or at the beach. As he got older he started to spend more time writing music and leading worship at his church. He also developed a strong love for playing guitar. When he was in his teens, his sister began to introduce him to country artists by playing him tapes on the way to the beach in exchange for Kelley washing her car. By the time Kelley was ready to graduate from Seabreeze High School in 2004, he was splitting his time between baseball and writing music. Kelley found out late that he would be drafted by the Miami Marlins and would more than likely pursue pro baseball as a career. However, when he was doing more bench sitting than playing, he filled the void with writing. He later decided to move to Belmont University.
Career
Florida Georgia Line (2010–present)
Kelley was introduced to Tyler Hubbard at Belmont University in 2007 while they were in a campus worship group together. The two became great friends, and began playing guitar and writing songs together. The two friends began playing writers rounds throughout Nashville. In 2009, the duo decided they wanted to pursue music as a career so they started playing shows throughout the south. In 2010, they independently recorded and digitally distributed their first EP, Anything Like Me. After releasing that EP, they were discovered at a county fair by Nickelback's producer, Joey Moi. After writing and polishing songs for two years, the duo released their second EP It'z Just What We Do in 2012. Major labels became interested in the duo when their debut single, "Cruise", first hit satellite radio on "The Highway" channel and began selling well on iTunes, leading to a record deal with Republic Nashville and Big Machine Label Group. In the fall of 2011, Kelley signed a publishing deal with Big Loud Shirt. The duo released their first studio album, Here's to the Good Times, on December 4, 2012 with Republic Nashville. This album was the sixth best selling album of 2013. "Cruise", the first single on the album, reached number 1 on the Country Airplay chart dated December 15, 2012. A remix of "Cruise" featuring Nelly later hit number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is also the best selling country digital song of all time, with sales of over 7 million, and it spent 24 weeks at number 1 on Hot Country songs. The other singles from this album include "Get Your Shine On", "Round Here", "Stay", and "This Is How We Roll". Florida Georgia Line announced on August 15, 2014 that their second album would be titled Anything Goes, and would be released on October 14, 2014. They released the album's first single, "Dirt", on July 8, 2014. Other singles from this album include "Sun Daze", "Sippin' On Fire", "Anything Goes" and "Confession". The duo's third album, Dig Your Roots was released on August 26, 2016. Singles include "H.O.L.Y.", "May We All", "God, Your Mama, And Me" and "Smooth". They released they're fourth studio album, Can't Say I Ain't Country, on February 15, 2019. Singles include "Simple", "Talk You Out of It" and "Blessings".
In 2015, Hubbard and Kelley started their own artist development and music publishing company called Tree Vibez Music. Since the company began, they have signed writer Jordan Schmidt, writer Jimmie Deeghan, writer/artist Drew Castle as well as singer-songwriters Canaan Smith and RaeLynn. In 2019, Hubbard and Kelley launched Round Here Records; an independent label with Smith signed as the flagship artist.
