Charles Kelley

Charles Burgess Kelley is an American country music singer best known as a founding member and co-lead vocalist of the country music trio Lady A, signed to Big Machine Records. Formed in 2006, the group has achieved widespread commercial success, while Kelley has also established a career as a solo artist and songwriter.

Kelley was born on September 11, 1981, in Augusta, Georgia, to Gayle and Dr. John W. Kelley. The youngest of three sons, he began his musical career at age 11, later forming the band Inside Blue with his brothers Josh and John. In middle school, he met Dave Haywood, with whom he wrote his first song at age 14. After graduating from Lakeside High School, Kelley attended the University of Georgia, joining Lambda Chi Alpha and graduating with a finance degree in 2004. He briefly worked as an accountant for a waste management company linked to his brother John's construction business in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, before moving to Nashville, Tennessee, in mid-2005 to write songs with his brother Josh.

In 2006, Kelley co-founded Lady A (originally named Lady Antebellum) alongside Haywood and Hillary Scott. The trio released their self-titled debut album in April 2008, featuring singles such as "Love Don't Live Here" and their first Hot Country Songs number-one hit, "I Run to You." Subsequent studio albums included Need You Now (2010), Own the Night (2011), On This Winter's Night (2012), Golden (2013), 747 (2014), and Heart Break (2017). The group officially changed its name to Lady A in June 2020.

In addition to his work with Lady A, Kelley launched a solo career, beginning with the 2006 album 2 to 9's. He later released his solo single "The Driver" in 2015, which received a Grammy nomination for Best Country Duo/Group Performance, followed by his solo studio albums The Driver (2016) and Songs for a New Moon (2025). As a songwriter, he has co-written tracks for artists such as Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Danny Gokey, Parachute, Hunter Hayes, and his brother Josh Kelley.

Kelley married music representative Cassie McConnell in July 2009. The couple has two sons, Ward, born in February 2016, and Archer, born in September 2025. In August 2022, Lady A postponed a tour so Kelley could focus on his sobriety, leading to his December 2022 single release, "As Far As You Could." In September 2026, Kelley revealed that he had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma.