A week before hitting the road, Lady A has announced it is canceling its upcoming tour.
Why did Lady A cancel its 2022 tour?
On Thursday, the country-pop band announced it is pushing its Request Line tour to 2023 to support singer Charles Kelley on his path to sobriety, People magazine reported.
“Being on the road with our fans is our greatest joy, so it was a hard but important decision to make,” the group wrote in a statement, per People. “We are a band, but more importantly … we’re family. 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,” the band continued. “It’s early on this road, but we are determined to do what will best set us up for many more years together. We’re grateful for your patience.”
What Charles Kelley said about his sobriety journey
Kelley hinted at his sobriety in a recent Instagram post teasing the new BRELAND song “Told You I Could Drink” that features Lady A, People reported.
“Fired up for this one,” Kelley wrote earlier this week. “Ironic since I stopped drinking haha.”
Kelley has opened up about his struggles with sobriety in the past, calling the song “Be Patient With My Love” from the band’s 2019 album “Ocean” “the most vulnerable” he had ever been in the songwriting process, Entertainment Online reported.
“It is my story over the past few years, just really kind of struggling with finding my direction and what I want out of this life,” he said, according to Apple Music. “We’d been a band for 12, 13 years, and I’ve been married now for 10 years. You kind of get to this point where you’re like, ‘All right, where is this going? Is it going to be the same?’ I just needed a reset, and around this time I really was struggling with my spirituality. I was struggling with my drinking, all of it, and just chasing after something.”
The Lady A Utah connection
Lady A performed at West Valley City’s USANA Amphitheatre in September 2021.
In 2020, the band appeared on the NBC show “Songland,” where undiscovered songwriters pitch original songs to chart-topping artists and music producers.
Utah singer-songwriter Ryan Innes appeared on that episode, pitching his song “Long Way Home” to the band, the Deseret News reported.
“I believe in this song, man,” Lady A member Dave Haywood told Innes. “I believe in you. I think you belong doing this.”
Ultimately, though, Lady A chose to go with Madison Merlo’s “Champagne Night,” which became a monster hit for the band.