This past Thursday, Lady A announced that its Request Line tour is on hold until next year while Charles Kelley embarks on “a journey to sobriety.”
The group broke the news on Instagram in a lengthy joint statement.
Lady A’s Charles Kelley Leaves To Work On Sobriety, Band Postpones Tour
“Being on the road with our fans is our greatest joy, so it was a hard but important decision to make,” the trio wrote. ”We are a band, but more importantly…we’re family.”
While Kelley, 40, focuses on his sobriety, his bandmates Dave Haywood and Hillary Scott are ready to offer him all the support he needs.
“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 a team of professionals to walk through this together,” the band shared.
The three musicians, who formerly went by the name of Lady Antebellum, did not expand on Kelley’s treatment plan, however, they thanked fans for their patience and said they are excited to come back stronger than ever.
“It’s early on this road, but we are determined to do what will best set us up for many more years together,” they wrote.
After the news, all 2022 tour dates were updated with the following message on the hit band’s website:
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“Postponed — New date coming soon.” Dates for 2023, however, remained on the website with no change.
“This update is coming in real time, but in the coming days, your point of purchase will be in touch with new ticket information. We’re looking forward to making 2023 our best year yet!” the band wrote.
In June 2020, the country artists announced that they would be changing their band name to Lady A and removing the word antebellum (a term that’s associated with the U.S. Civil War and slavery) from their moniker following the death of George Floyd and the increased attention on racial injustice.
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“After much personal reflection, band discussion, prayer and many honest conversations with some of our closest Black friends and colleagues, we have decided to drop the word ‘antebellum’ from our name and move forward as Lady A, the nickname our fans gave us almost from the start, ” the singers shared on Instagram at the time.
Not long after, blues singer Anita White, who also goes by the same name, spoke to Rolling Stone and argued that it was “pure privilege” that the band changed their name without confirming that the name wasn’t already being used by another singer.
The band ended up meeting with White to host a “transparent, honest and authentic” conversation.
“We are excited to share we are moving forward with positive solutions and common ground. The hurt is turning into hope. More to come,” they wrote at the time.
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