Charles Kelley opened up about his alcoholism and journey to sobriety in the new Hulu documentary It’s All Country. The Lady A singer spoke about his decision to quit drinking and why he was honest with fans about it when the band had to cancel tour dates so he could enter rehab in 2022.f
“Success is a double-edged sword, for sure,” Charles, 43, said in episode 2 of the doc, which was released on Friday, November 15. “You know, once you know what it feels like, and once you’ve been out there, it’s a drug in itself. There is a lot of doubt that can come in and there’s just a lot of, I think, keeping your ego in check. I had to come back from treatment. I went to this place in Utah for a month, and we were kind of talking to our team about, you know, what do we say? Why are we canceling the tour?”
Charles explained that he didn’t “want to lie” to his fans. “That’s the whole concept here is to be more honest,” he shared. “Dave [Haywood] and Hillary [Scott] were such good friends throughout this whole journey. And, thank God, I felt like I was given this second lease on my career and my marriage.”
He called “quitting drinking” the “best decision I’ve ever made in my life,” adding, “It wasn’t my intention to really share my story so much. It kind of took on this thing where I felt like I wanted to be honest with the fans and the people about what I was going through. And it just kind of snowballed to where you start seeing that people are actually connecting to the story and it could help them in some way.”
The singer concluded, “I just think it’s such a common occurrence and we all struggle with it. The stage of career I’m at and the stage of life I’m in, I wanna be able to give something back, too, in a positive way – even if it’s just a little bit of encouragement.”
In August 2022, Lady A announced that they were postponing their Request Line tour until the following year. “We are a brand, but more importantly we’re family. We’re proud to say that Charles has embarked on a journey to sobriety,” the trio wrote. “So, right now in order to be the healthiest, strongest and most creative band we can be, Lady A will take the time with the support of our families and team of professionals to walk through this together. It’s early on this road, but we are determined to do what will best set us up for many more years together.”
During a May 2023 interview on CBS This Morning, Charles said his bandmates had addressed his drinking problem five years prior. “We would have shows where they’re like, ‘Hey man, you might have had a little too much to drink that night,’” he recalled. “I was like, ‘OK, well has it affected how hard I work? Has it affected the shows?’”
The “American Honey” singer celebrated two years of sobriety in September.
