Charles Kelley

Charles Burgess Kelley (born September 11, 1981) is an American musician who is the co-lead vocalist and founding member of the country music trio Lady A, which was formed in 2006 and are signed to Big Machine Records.

Kelley was born in Augusta, Georgia, the youngest of three sons of Gayle and Dr. John W. Kelley, a now retired cardiologist.

He began his musical career at the age of 11.

His older brother, Josh Kelley, is also a musician and singer.

As teenagers, Charles, Josh and oldest brother John formed a band called Inside Blue; the band released a five-song CD that garnered the attention of a major label.

In middle school, Kelley met Dave Haywood and, at the age of 14, they wrote their first song.

They both graduated from Lakeside High School in Evans, Georgia.

Kelley attended the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, where he was a member of the Nu Zeta chapter of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.

He graduated in 2004 with a degree in finance.

Before moving to Nashville, Tennessee, in mid-2005 to pursue a musical career, Kelley worked in his brother John's construction business in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as an accountant for an affiliated waste management company.

Kelley made the move after his brother Josh, who was a pop musician at the time, bought a house in Nashville and convinced him to come live there so they could write songs together.

Kelley, Hillary Scott, and Dave Haywood founded the country music group Lady A as Lady Antebellum in 2006 and released their debut album in April 2008.

The trio either wrote or co-wrote ten of the eleven songs on the album, which featured production by Paul Worley and Victoria Shaw.

In 2008, they returned to Charles' and Dave's former high school alma mater, Lakeside High School, and performed a short concert in the gymnasium.

The album included the trio's debut hit, "Love Don't Live Here", along with the singles, "Lookin' for a Good Time" and "I Run to You", the latter of which became their first number one hit on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in July 2009.

It was certified platinum by the RIAA in October 2009.

In January 2010, they released their sophomore album, Need You Now, which was led off by the five-week number one and crossover hit, "Need You Now".

It also peaked at number two on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 and is 6x certified Platinum.

All three members of the band co-wrote eight of the eleven songs on the album and produced alongside Worley.

The album generated the number one hits, "American Honey" and "Our Kind of Love", and the top 10 single, "Hello World", and was certified triple platinum in October 2010.

In May 2011, the group released "Just a Kiss" as the lead single from their third studio album, Own the Night, which was released on September 13, 2011, and became their fifth number one hit on the Hot Country Songs chart.

"Just a Kiss" was 2x certified Platinum by the RIAA.

It stayed on the Hot 100 for forty-two weeks.

The second single "We Owned the Night" also became a number one hit and was certified Gold.

The third single "Dancin' Away with My Heart" was also certified Gold and peaked at number two.

"Wanted You More" was released as the fourth and final single from the album.

It was their first single since "Lookin' For a Good Time" to miss the top 10.

The band supported the album with their second headlining tour, the Own the Night Tour which was also their first arena and world tour.

On October 22, 2012, On This Winter's Night, the band's first Christmas album was released.

One of the tracks on the album "A Holly Jolly Christmas" was released to Country radio and AC radio.

A music video for the single was made.

Shortly after the release of On This Winter's Night, they started working on their fifth studio album.

Golden was released on May 7, 2013.

"Downtown" was the album's first single and peaked at number two on Country radio and number one on the US Country Airplay chart.

It was certified platinum by the RIAA.

The second single was "Goodbye Town".

In late 2013, the deluxe edition re-issue of Golden was released which included the third single "Compass".

"Compass" was met with positive reviews and went number one on the Country Airplay chart.

In 2014, the band toured the album on the Take Me Downtown Tour and sold-out shows every night.

In May 2014, "Bartender" was released as the first single off their sixth studio album.