Lady A Postpone Request Line Tour as Charles Kelley Continues Journey to Sobriety
Lady A singer Charles Kelley's "journey to sobriety" has forced the trio to postpone their Request Line Tour. The band made the announcement on social media on Thursday morning (Aug. 4), adding that they hope to hit the road again in 2023.
"We are a band, but more importantly ... we're family," the note reads. "We're proud to say that Charles has embarked on a journey to sobriety. 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."
This isn't the first time the band has addressed the issue. Previously, Kelley admitted to drinking too much at times, leading to a confrontation from his wife, Cassie, as well as bandmates Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood.
"It's early on this road, but we are determined to do what will best set us up for many more years together."
"At the time it was, it p---ed me off," he told Pop Culture and other media in 2019. "I look back and I'm like, if they had not done that, who was going to do it, you know? Because my wife could tell me all she wanted to but until you've got your bandmates (speaking up), you're like, 'Oh s––, I've got, I've got to control this.' There's a lot of that on this record I think."
A song called "Be Patient With My Love" from their Ocean album explored this further. The most recent message from Lady A doesn't specify if drinking was the issue, nor does it state where Kelley currently is in this journey.
"I've definitely had an interesting spiritual journey over the past year or so," he told Taste of Country in 2019. "And honest conversations about a lot of stuff to be honest with you — my drinking over the past several years and getting that in control. It's brought us closer to actually have those conversations."
COVID aside, Lady A have been fairly reliable touring artists in recent years, although the 40-year-old Kelley did have surgery for appendicitis in July 2021, forcing the band to cancel a show. In recent weeks, several appearances were canceled for unknown reasons, including a number of fair and festival dates.
The Request Line Tour was to begin on Aug. 13 in Nashville and continue through October. Fans were able to call in requests ahead of time and the group told ToC they planned to honor them. "It's legitimate," Dave Haywood said.
"We had done a couple of like random shows like charity events where it was just us sitting around with an acoustic guitar. In those settings we kind of would be like, 'What do y'all wanna hear?'" Kelley added at the time. "Some of them would be cover songs. We were like why can't we do something like this?"
The band say information about ticket refunds will be coming in the next few days.