“This Isn’t Goodbye. It’s A Thank You” – Zac Brown Band Wipes Instagram & Drops Cryptic Post About The “Next Chapter”

Zac Brown Band is cooking up something. But what?

Zac Brown Band is a country music staple band, formed in 2004. The group kept their nose to the grindstone, performing anywhere they could, which many nights was at frontman Zac Brown’s restaurant and music venue, Zac’s Place. When the band released their first major-label record, The Foundation, in 2008, which featured the famed single “Chicken Fried,” the band experienced a surge in popularity and a rise in fame.

“Chicken Fried” was the single that put the band on the map, but that record also featured many other hits, including “Toes,” “Free,” and “Whatever It Is.” Over the last seventeen years, the group has won three Grammy Awards, had numerous nominations for other award shows, and their island-inspired sound has captured and entertained fans.

The last major album that Zac Brown Band put out was Comeback in 2021, which was followed by the announcement that their guitar player and co-founder, John Driskell Hopkins, announced that he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Since that last studio record, the group has released a live album, From The Road, Vol. 1: Covers, some singles, and an EP titled No Wake Zone.

However, there has been no announcement of whether another record is in store. And who knows… maybe they don’t have plans to make another record at all with this cryptic post. On July 8th, the band scrubbed their Instagram page of all existing posts and shared a video highlighting moments from tour over the past few years.

In the video’s caption, they write a message implying that a significant change is underway for the band.

“There’s no way to sum up what the last chapter has meant to us… We’ve played thousands of shows, crossed countless state lines, and seen every kind of weather and welcome you could imagine.

Whether you saw us when we were playing covers in Georgia dive bars or you just found us on your drive home last month… You’ve been a part of this journey. You’ve sung the words, screamed the choruses, cried with us, danced with us, and let this music into your life. That kind of connection is not lost on us. It never will be.

From every hand we shook, every sign we saw in the crowd, every voice lifted back to us from the front row to the lawn, we felt your love. And we gave it right back, night after night. This isn’t goodbye. It’s a thank you. A reflection.

The next chapter? It’s the biggest one yet. We’ll see you there.”

While they say “this isn’t goodbye,” it’s hard to think about what could be next for the Georgia-founded band. Could they be revamping the band’s members? Renaming the band? Tapping into a new sound? I mean, your last album was called The Comeback…. you can’t make two comebacks, back to back, right?

Only time will tell what’s in store, but I am interested to see what’s in the works.

Las Vegas Sphere

This timing is also interesting because Zach Brown confirmed on the AMA’s red carpet that he will have a residency in Las Vegas. Last year, Zac Brown sat down with Theo Von for an episode of his This Past Weekend podcast, where he revealed that the Zac Brown Band was working on a residency at the Las Vegas Sphere:

“That’s the greatest canvas that has ever been created, so far. And to get to be one of the first bands to go in there and do it…this is our masterpiece, man.” 

Zac Brown said at the time (which was over a year ago now) that he had been working with a team for over a year, which is the longest time he has spent putting a show together:

“It’s going to be the biggest spectacle we have ever done. I am very excited because this puts us in another league. And the goal is for our band to just keep going, man, and be like The Rolling Stones or the Grateful Dead…yeah, Jimmy Buffett. Be in that legacy act thing. This is really our first thing that I am putting a year plus work into for making one show.”

While there wasn’t much information given after that, on the AMA red carpet while talking to the popular livestreamer Kai Cenat, he dropped that he will have a residency later this year.

“We’re doing a residency at the Sphere. End of the year.”

Could this have something to do with this cryptic Zac Brown Band post? Like I said… Time will tell.