In 2012, Florida Georgia Line burst onto the country music scene with their debut single, “Cruise.” Chase Rice wrote “Cruise” with duo members Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley, along with Jesse Rice and Joey Moi. The song broke records, becoming one of the biggest country music songs of all time.
14 years after “Cruise” was released, the song ultimately became a double-edged sword for Chase.
“I wrote ‘Cruise’ when I was 26 years old, 27 years old, which ended up being one of the biggest country songs of all time,” Chase says on Joel Madden’s Artist Friendly podcast. “That was the biggest blessing and curse that I could have asked for. Because I had a massive hit, everybody wants to be in the room with you now, and we didn’t mean to write that. We just stumbled across it, and it became this massive thing that I all of a sudden now have to live up to.
“And for ten years that shaped, ‘Oh, I gotta do that again. I gotta sound like this. Florida Georgia Line’s blowing up. I want to blow up. Okay, now I’m going to go try and sound like that. Morgan Wallen’s blowing up. Now you gotta go sound like that,’” he continues. “Where my true joy in music started was when I sat on a couch again, ten years after all of that, with a guitar and wrote a song that only I could write.”
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Chase Rice Takes a Break in 2026
At the start of 2026, Chase announced he was taking a much-needed break to focus on his own mental health.
“I’ve been touring for 13 years and I’ve lived a dream far greater than I could’ve ever expected,” Chase said at the time. “This isn’t a goodbye thing or anything like that to be clear upfront, although it may feel like that, but I’m exhausted. I haven’t been able to be myself on stage in quite a while and really enjoy music and why I got into it in the first place.
“I love songs, I love living them, hearing stories from other people, and figuring out how to put that life into music,” he added. “After 13 years it’s finally beat me up to the point where I need to step away for a while. I need to go live life so that I have more real experiences to write down.”
Chase, who chose not to tour in 2026, says he knew it was the right choice for him, to be the best version of himself that he can be moving forward.
“It wasn’t even really a decision, it was something I know that I just have to do for myself,” Chase explained. “A lot of artists do this all the time, but it’s new for me so it’s kind of a big deal in my life. To my band and crew, I love y’all. You’ve seen me at my worst yet you still love me back like I’ve lived my best. I hope we can all get together in the coming years and get back to enjoying life on the road again.”
Earlier this year, Chase did reveal he is back in the studio, working on more music.