After More Than 10 Years Together, Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley Says the Key to the Trio’s Success Is “Balance”

Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott, Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley dropped their self-titled debut album in 2008. Since that time, the trio has released six additional albums, headlined multiple tours and won numerous Grammys, CMA Awards, ACM Awards and more.

That’s Lady A’s work life in a nutshell.

As far as the family lives of Hillary, Dave and Charles? That’s another nutshell.

When Dave welcomed daughter Lillie Renee Haywood on December 22, 2017, and Hillary gave birth to twins Betsy Mack and Emory JoAnn Tyrrell on January 29, 2018, it brought the total number of Little Antebellums to six, joining Eisele Tyrrell, 4, Cash Haywood, 3, and Ward Kelley, 2.

As Charles told Kix Brooks of American Country Countdown, finding the “balance” between work and family is always a challenge, but it’s something the longtime trio members—and friends—have excelled at over the years.

“[The biggest challenge] is balance between family and then certain opportunities that come up that sometimes you have to say no to because you’ve gotta take time to have family time and kind of reset the compass, you know?,” says Charles. “If there’s a challenge, it’s balance, you know, and then the travel, obviously, is like—you don’t get paid to be up onstage, you get paid to travel. That’s like all it is. I would do that for free. I love being up onstage. You know, we’ve been really lucky. I mean, we really have found that balance, and it’s just kind of come naturally over the years. With each year that goes by, I think we understand each other and when to push and pull each other.”

Lady Antebellum will find more balance on July 19 as they join forces with Darius Rucker for a co-headlining tour dubbed the Summer Plays On Tour. The 30-date tour will make stops in Seattle, San Diego, Chicago and more. Russell Dickerson will serve as the opening act.

Summer Plays On Tour

7/19/18 Toronto, ON Budweiser Stage
7/20/18 Cleveland, OH Blossom Music Center
7/21/18 Darien Center, NY* Darien Lake Amphitheater
7/26/18 Bethel, NY Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
7/27/18 Gilford, NH Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion
7/28/18 Hartford, CT XFINITY Theatre
8/2/18 Columbia, MD** Merriweather Post Pavilion
8/3/18 Holmdel, NJ P.N.C. Bank Arts Center
8/4/18 Wantagh, NY Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
8/16/18 Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre
8/17/18 Sacramento, CA Toyota Amphitheatre
8/19/18 Seattle, WA White River Amphitheatre
8/23/18 Phoenix, AZ Ak-Chin Pavilion
8/24/18 Irvine, CA FivePoint Amphitheater
8/25/18 San Diego, CA Mattress Firm Amphitheatre
9/6/18 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
9/7/18 Clarkston, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
9/8/18 Pittsburgh, PA KeyBank Pavilion
9/13/18 St. Louis, MO Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
9/14/18 Indianapolis, IN Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
9/15/18 Chicago, IL Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
9/20/18 Virginia Beach, VA Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
9/21/18 Philadelphia, PA BB&T Pavilion
9/22/18 Mansfield, MA Xfinity Center
9/27/18 Alpharetta, GA* Verizon Amphitheatre
9/28/18 Tampa, FL MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
9/29/18 West Palm Beach, FL Coral Sky Amphitheatre.
10/4/18 Raleigh, NC Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
10/5/18 Charlotte, NC PNC Music Pavilion
10/6/18 Bristow, VA Jiffy Lube Live