Nelly “Cruises” to Another Level with Florida Georgia Line…and Taylor Swift Approves

Back in 2004, Nelly teamed up with a country music superstar, Tim McGraw, for the song "Over and Over," and scored a top five hit.  Now, he's done it again: "Cruise," his collabo with country music duo Florida Georgia Line, has also reached the top five.

"Cruise" was originally a huge #1 hit on the country chart before Nelly ever got involved.  So why did Florida Georgia Line made up of Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard hook up with the rapper in the first place?  "We've been fans of Nelly since we were kids," Brian said  "When we heard that he was interested and that would have been an option, we freaked out and jumped at it.  I don't think there could have been anyone better for that song.  It just made sense."

"He just did an incredible job with the rap and the track sounds great.  I mean, we're just very, very proud of that song," adds Brian. "And to have him a part of it takes it to another level, for sure."

"Cruise" earned its initial pop cred when Taylor Swift gave a ringing endorsement of the song last year on Twitter.  She mentioned her love for "Cruise" again recently in an interview with Billboard and even brought Florida Georgia Line out on her RED tour this year as one of her opening acts.

Says Brian, "We love her and what she's doing and very thankful for her having us out on tour and being so good to us.

It's no wonder that Taylor loves "Cruise": she's a big Nelly fan.  In fact, when she performed in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri back in March, she brought him out on stage for a duet version of his song "Hey Porsche."  And back in 2011, when Taylor played St. Louis, she performed his hit "Just a Dream