Charles Kelley is giving new insight into his life as a sober father and husband. The Lady A singer and his wife, Cassie, have nine-year-old son, Ward, and are expecting their second child this year.
Kelley got sober in 2022, a decision that not only saved his marriage, but also made him a better – and much more present – father.
“I always considered myself a good parent,” Kelley says on the Raising Boys and Girls podcast. “But I definitely would come home a buzzed parent from the golf course. Just having more energy to be with him, too, and I think that’s the biggest thing. Wake up in the morning, and now I’m the one getting him ready, and take him to school most mornings, especially with Cassie being pregnant. In my drinking days, if I had been up drinking all night, that would have been a hard, or an argument, or some sort of point of contention.
“And so I think it’s taken that extra layer — we still like any married couple, we have our little moments,” he adds. “But I’ve calmed down so much more. I’m so much more of a chill guy in general.”
Kelley feels fortunate that he was able to quit drinking. It’s not an easy feat, especially in the music industry.
“I had moments where it got bad,” the 43-year-old acknowledges. “And I think there are different degrees of being an alcoholic. I feel like I was lucky enough to, with the encouragement of my wife and everybody, to get a hold of it before it got really bad. And so I just encourage so many people, a lot of my other friends in the music industry. There’s just so much temptation around to abuse it. I don’t think anyone has any intention of doing that, but it just creeps up on you.”
Now that Kelley is sober, he is taking it on himself to inspire others that sobriety is a viable option.
“It wasn’t my goal to go public, but we had a tour planned, and the last thing I wanted was anyone to think that there were any issues with the band, and that we were breaking up,” Kelley told Everything Nash, speaking of Lady A’s Request Line Tour, which was postponed while Kelley entered rehab.
“Part of this whole journey for me is being more honest with myself,” he added. “And I said, ‘Let’s just be honest.’ It was amazing the support I got because of it. And honestly, unbeknownst to me, it created a cool platform for me to encourage some of the other artists that I know.”
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Cassie is rightfully proud of her husband. She recently celebrated his success while in the Bahamas, reflecting on how different their life could have been if Kelley hadn’t entered rehab.
“The butterfly effect is crazy, because what if we hadn’t chosen recovery and our marriage three years ago, then I wouldn’t be sitting on a pink sand beach in the Bahamas with the loves of my life, expecting a baby this fall,” Cassie writes on Instagram, sharing highlights of their recent trip.
She captioned the photos and videos by saying, “All of this made possible by recovery. Choosing our marriage when it was hard, but more importantly both of us doing the hard work to fight for what we knew could heal. Ourselves, our family, our lives. One day at a time. Don’t give up. There is hope. And I love you so much.”
Kelley’s solo Songs For a New Moon album will be out on June 26. Pre-order the project at CharlesKelley.com.