Charles Kelley, a member of the band Lady A, has openly shared his personal experiences with fans regarding his path to sobriety. However, there has been one particular incident that he had not directly addressed until recently: the moment when he came close to receiving a DUI while driving under the influence.
In an interview with Elizabeth Vargas on her Heart of the Matter podcast, Kelley confesses that when he consumed alcohol, it became a regular habit for him to have "four or five drinks" while playing golf in a day, and then he would drive himself back home.
Kelley confesses that they were driving while under the influence of alcohol. Despite the short duration of the drive, there were instances where Kelley realized the extreme stupidity and danger of their actions. Reflecting on the incident the following day, Kelley was struck by the realization that their reckless behavior could have resulted in the loss of someone's life, including their own.
On one specific occasion, Kelley had a close call with being charged with a DUI. It happened during the Christmas season, and he recalls that his wife, Cassie, and their son, Ward, were away for a few days. This gave Kelley the freedom to consume as much alcohol as he pleased without any responsibilities towards his family. He spent a day playing golf and drinking at a nearby bar. As the night was coming to an end, other customers at the bar began to worry if Kelley intended to drive himself home.
"I thought to myself, 'If I don't drive back, my wife will ask me where my car is,' even though I could have gotten it the next morning. She wouldn't have known because she wasn't there," he explains.
However, with a strong determination to go home alone, he discreetly left through the rear exit of the bar and drove away. Within a brief distance towards his house, he was stopped by the police.
The police officer glanced at my driver's license and asked, "Are you the person from that band?" I replied affirmatively. 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 anything. I was amazed and relieved," Kelley remarks.
However, the occurrence served as a sudden realization for Kelley, prompting him to understand the importance of informing his wife about what had transpired.
The singer expressed their exasperation and exhaustion after a recent incident where they were pulled over by saying, "I reached a point where I felt like giving up. It was a draining experience. I thought to myself, 'I just got pulled over and it almost had a devastating impact on my life. It also caused a lot of trouble for the band.' Obviously, it would have resulted in 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 to finally seek help and fully dedicate himself to staying sober.
Following his rehabilitation, it didn't take much time for Kelly to inform Lady A fans about his struggle with alcohol. The country trio was transparent with their loyal supporters by explaining that the postponement of their 2022 Request Line Tour was primarily to prioritize Kelley's early stages of sobriety. This decision to be honest with the fans was solely made by Kelley himself. On the other hand, his bandmates Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood proposed alternative explanations for why the band couldn't embark on the tour.
"I expressed that I didn't feel any shame about it, and that being honest was the best approach. This was the most difficult thing I had ever done, but taking the easy way out would have meant continuing to drink and destroying everything. I acknowledged that I was grateful for the situation, and that was when I realized it was time to share my experience. Since then, things have been progressing in a very positive and beneficial manner."
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