Charles Kelley, a member of the band Lady A, has been open and honest with his fans about his personal journey towards sobriety. However, there is one particular incident that he had not previously discussed until recently: the moment when he came dangerously close to receiving a DUI charge after driving under the influence.
Kelley, in an interview with Elizabeth Vargas on the Heart of the Matter podcast, confesses that when he was consuming alcohol, it became a regular habit for him to consume "four or five drinks" while playing golf and then proceed to drive himself back home.
Kelley confesses that she was behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol. Despite the short duration of the trip, there were instances where she realized the extreme foolishness and potential harm of her actions. The following day, she experienced a profound realization of the potential consequences, recognizing that she could have caused harm to someone else or even lost her own life.
On one specific occasion, Kelley had a close brush with being charged with DUI. It happened during the Christmas season, and he recalls that his wife Cassie and son Ward were away for a few days. This gave Kelley the freedom to drink without any familial responsibilities. He spent a day on the golf course and later went to a nearby bar to continue drinking. As the night drew to a close, fellow bar-goers began expressing concern about Kelley's intentions to drive home.
He recalls saying, "I thought to myself, if I don't drive back, my wife will ask me where my car is." Even though I could have retrieved it the next morning without her knowing since she wasn't present.
However, with a strong resolve to return home by himself, he surreptitiously exited through the rear exit of the establishment and departed in his vehicle. Within a brief span of time during his journey to his residence, he was stopped by law enforcement.
The police officer examined my driver's license and asked, "Are you the person in that band?" I responded affirmatively. Instead of arresting me for driving under the influence, the officer instructed me to park my car and offered to drive me home. He didn't issue me a ticket or any punishment. I was amazed and relieved by this fortunate turn of events.
However, the occurrence served as a reminder for Kelley to take action: he realized that he needed to inform his spouse about the situation.
The singer expresses their feeling of being completely exhausted and done with a situation. They explain that they were recently pulled over, which had the potential to greatly impact their life and cause chaos for their band. They acknowledge that it would have resulted in negative press, which they wanted to avoid.
He made a firm decision to stop consuming alcohol and struggled for three months to resist the temptation. However, he eventually relapsed and resumed his previous drinking habits. It took another year before he finally sought help and fully dedicated himself to a life of sobriety.
Following his rehabilitation, it didn't take much time for Kelly to reveal his struggle with alcohol to Lady A fans. The country trio was transparent with their loyal supporters, explaining that the postponement of their 2022 Request Line Tour was primarily to ensure Kelley's newfound sobriety was safeguarded. The decision to be honest about this matter was made by Kelley himself. Meanwhile, his bandmates, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood, had proposed creating alternate explanations for why the band was not embarking on the tour.
Kelley expressed that she was not ashamed of her actions and believed in being honest about them. She acknowledged that what she was going through was incredibly difficult. Instead of taking the easy way out and continuing to drink and destroy everything, she decided to face her challenges head-on. Kelley expressed gratitude for the situation she was in, which marked a turning point for her. This led her to decide to share her experience, and it has since gained momentum in a positive and beneficial manner.
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