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 has never directly addressed until recently. Kelley has now revealed that there was a time when he was dangerously close to receiving a DUI after 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 in a single day, and then he would drive himself back home.
Kelley confesses that she was operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol on her way home. Even though the journey only lasted for 10 minutes, there were several instances where she realized the extreme foolishness and danger of her actions. The following day, she deeply regretted her choices, acknowledging that she could have caused harm to someone else or even lost her own life.
On a specific occasion, Kelley had a close call with getting charged with a DUI. It happened 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 drink without any family responsibilities. He spent the day playing golf and enjoying drinks at a nearby bar. Towards the end of the night, other people at the bar began expressing worry about whether Kelley intended to drive home.
The person sharing the story said, "I thought to myself, if I don't drive back home, my wife will ask me where my car is." Even though I could have retrieved it the following morning without her knowing because she wasn't present.
However, with a strong resolve to return home alone, he discreetly left through the rear exit of the bar and departed in his vehicle. Unfortunately, he was stopped by law enforcement during the brief journey back to his residence.
The police officer glanced at 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 pull over and kindly offered to drive me the remainder of the way home. Surprisingly, he didn't issue me a ticket or any other penalty. I was truly amazed and relieved that I had narrowly escaped a potentially serious situation.
However, the occurrence served as a reminder for Kelley to take action. He realized that he needed to inform his spouse about what had transpired.
The singer expressed their feelings by saying, "I reached a point where I felt completely drained. I had just been pulled over, and it felt like I had almost destroyed my entire life. It caused a lot of trouble for the band and would have resulted in extremely negative publicity, which would have been terrible."
He made a promise to himself to stop drinking alcohol and struggled for three months to resist the temptation. However, he eventually found himself falling back into his old habits of drinking. It took him another year before he finally decided to seek help and fully dedicate himself to a life of sobriety.
Following his rehabilitation, it didn't take much time for Kelly to share with Lady A fans about his struggle with alcohol. The country trio was transparent with their fanbase, explaining that the postponement of their 2022 Request Line Tour was primarily to safeguard Kelley's early stages of sobriety. Making the decision to be honest about the situation was solely Kelley's choice. While Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood proposed finding alternative explanations for the band's tour delay.
"I expressed that I had no shame in admitting the truth – this is the most difficult thing I have ever done. Taking the easy way out would have been to continue drinking and destroy everything. I acknowledged my gratitude for this experience," Kelley explains. "… And that was when I realized that it was time to share it. So, it has gradually gained momentum in a very positive and beneficial manner."
Here are 18 country artists who have chosen to live a sober lifestyle. Additionally, we have compiled a list of 11 great country songs that revolve around the theme
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