The temperature in Las Vegas had dipped to the mid-80s by the time Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush took the stage in the outdoor beach area at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on Sept. 2, 2012. Nettles had braided her blond hair into pigtails. Bush, like always, donned a narrow black cowboy hat pulled low on his forehead. Since Sugarland had broken onto the country scene with its hit “Baby Girl” eight years prior, the two had charted seven No. 1 songs, sold 10 million albums and played more than 1,000 concerts side by side. However, when Bush turned to meet Nettles’ gaze during the final song of the show — the song from which Sugarland took its name, the same song she auditioned with to join the group in 2002 — he didn’t know if or when they’d ever share a stage again. The concert was their last on the books. 

“It was this interesting, very personal moment for me,” Bush recalled. “We had come full circle.” Their self-imposed, open-ended hiatus started the next day. Nettles was pregnant, and after she gave birth, she wanted to pursue other projects. Bush had just emerged from a lengthy divorce. He was overwhelmed, but songs of hope swirled through his head. More than five years later, Sugarland is back.