Charles Kelley, a member of Lady A, has been open and honest with his fans about his path to sobriety. However, there is one particular event that he has never explicitly discussed until now. He has revealed that he came close to receiving a DUI while driving under the influence.
In an interview on Elizabeth Vargas' Heart of the Matter podcast, Kelley confesses that when he was consuming alcohol, it became a regular habit for him to have "four or five drinks" while playing golf and then drive himself back home.
Kelley confesses that she was operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. Even though the drive only lasted for 10 minutes, there were instances where she realized the extreme foolishness and potential danger of her actions. Reflecting on the situation the following day, Kelley deeply regretted the fact that her reckless behavior could have resulted in the loss of someone's life, including her own.
On one specific occasion, Kelley had a close call with a DUI offense. It was during the Christmas season, and he recalls that his wife Cassie and son Ward were away for a few days, giving him the freedom to consume alcohol without any family responsibilities. He spent the day playing golf and drinking at a nearby bar. As the night was coming to an end, fellow customers began to express worry about Kelley's intention to drive back home.
"I thought to myself, if I don't go back home by driving, my wife will ask me where my car is," he recalls. "Even though I could have retrieved it the next morning without her knowing, she wasn't there."
However, with a strong determination to return home by himself, he managed to discreetly exit the bar through the back and began driving away. Unfortunately, during the brief distance he traveled towards his house, he was stopped by the police.
The police officer examined my driver's license and asked, "Are you the person from that band?" I replied, "Yes." Instead of arresting me for driving under the influence, the officer instructed me to park my car and personally drove me home. He didn't issue me a ticket or any penalty. I was stunned and relieved that I had narrowly escaped trouble.
However, the occurrence served as a realization for Kelley, prompting him to understand the importance of informing his wife about what had transpired.
The singer expresses their feelings of being completely drained and ready to give up after a recent incident of getting pulled over. They believed that their actions in that moment had the potential to have a detrimental impact on their life and create a lot of trouble for their band. They were aware that such negative attention would have been terrible for their public image.
He made a firm decision to stop consuming alcohol and struggled to resist the temptation for three months, but eventually relapsed into his previous drinking habits. It took him another year to finally seek professional help and fully dedicate himself to a life of sobriety.
Following his rehabilitation, Kelly didn't waste much time before sharing his struggle with alcohol with Lady A fans. The country trio displayed transparency with their loyal supporters by explaining that they had postponed their 2022 Request Line Tour in order to prioritize and safeguard Kelley's early stages of sobriety. This choice to be honest was made by Kelley himself, while his bandmates, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood, had initially proposed using alternative excuses for the tour's postponement.
Kelley expressed that she was not ashamed of her actions and emphasized that what she had gone through was the most challenging experience of her life. Instead of taking the easy way out and continuing to drink, she made the decision to face her problems head-on. Kelley acknowledged that she was grateful for this opportunity and this realization marked a turning point for her. She decided to share her story and since then, it has gained momentum in a positive and beneficial manner.
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