Zac Brown Band Welcomes Newest Member Caroline Jones: 'Greatest Honor of My Career'

Tracy Alison Caroline Jones

Zac Brown Band is expanding the group!

On Thursday, Caroline Jones announced she would be joining the Grammy-winning band — who she frequently collaborates with — full-time, making her the first and only female.

With her addition, the singer will join the band for tours, performances, in the studio — and she'll keep up with her solo career.

"Joining Zac Brown Band as an official member is the greatest honor of my career so far," Jones, 32, told Entertainment Tonight. "To be validated not only as a singer and songwriter, but as a musician and member of the family, means more to me than I can put into words."

Zac Brown added, per the outlet, "It feels like Caroline has been part of Zac Brown Band for years. She has done a few tours with us and has also been in the recording studio creating with us. She is family and a badass musician," he said. "She sings the highest and works the hardest."

Tyler Lord Zac Brown Band

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Earlier this year, Jones released her sophomore album Antipodes. On its track "So Many Skies" — which Jones wrote for her husband while they were falling in love — Zac Brown Band is a co-producer.

Jones opened for the band on their 2017 tour and was asked back for the next two consecutive tours. Later, in 2021, the band asked her to join The Comeback Tour as a special guest band member — and did the same for their current Out in the Middle tour.

Earlier this month, Zac Brown Brand did not perform in Vancouver when some of its members were denied entry to Canada at the border. In a statement shared with PEOPLE, the group said they were forced to cancel hours before it was scheduled to begin.

"We're sorry to announce that we won't be able to perform in Vancouver tonight. Our Canadian fans are incredible, and we would love nothing more than to share an evening of music together," they said.

They explained, "Some of our crew members had charges on their records from over a decade ago that have since been removed. Our team has regularly performed in Canada for 10 years, including two performances this year alone."

A source shared more details of what happened at the border, telling PEOPLE, "Zac and his band and crew were detained in Vancouver for two hours because a few of his crew members had infractions that had been expunged years and years ago. Zac refused to leave his crew members behind because they're like a family, so he decided to cancel the show. He's super upset about it because he loves his fans but he always says his crew — they're like a family."

RELATED VIDEO: Zac Brown Paid 14 Months' Worth of Salary to his Band Due to Tour Hiatus During Lockdown

Meanwhile, band member John Driskell Hopkins also opened up to PEOPLE in May about his ALS diagnosis. "In my life, I've been scared, I've been angry, I've been stressed," Hopkins said of his diagnosis. "But I don't know that I've ever truly felt anxiety until that day."

He also said he was managing to maintain his demanding schedule, despite the weakness and balance issues.

"I'm singing as well as I've ever sung, and I was never a good player," he said jokingly. "The band will back me up on that. When I told them about my diagnosis on a Zoom call, Zac said, 'Are you making all this up because you're a s—ty banjo player?'"

The band — including Jones — will be perform at the CMA Awards in Nashville on Wednesday.