Charles Kelley life and biography

Charles Kelley is an American country music singer-songwriter and founding member of Lady Antebellum, a country rock trio formed in 2006 and signed to Capitol Nashville.

Kelley was born in Augusta, Georgia, and 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.

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 Antebellum in 2006 and released their self-titled 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. 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, Lady Antebellum released its second album, Need You Now, which was led off by the five-week No. 1 and crossover hit, "Need You Now". All three members of the band co-wrote eight of the eleven songs on the album and produced alongside Worley. The album generated the No. 1 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, Lady Antebellum released "Just a Kiss" as the first single from its third album, Own the Night, which is set to be released on September 13, 2011.

Kelley's other works consist of co-writing songs for other artists, mainly with Lady Antebellum bandmate, Dave Haywood. One of those songs was "Do I" on labelmate Luke Bryan's 2009 album, Doin' My Thing. Written in late 2008, the song was released to radio in April 2009 and peaked at No. 2 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in December of that year. The song also featured Lady Antebellum's HIllary Scott on background vocals.

In 2009, Kelley and Haywood penned a song called "It's Only" for Danny Gokey's debut album, My Best Days, with "I Run to You" cowriter, Tom Douglas. That same year, the two also wrote "Love Song" with Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert, which Lambert would later record for her third studio album, Revolution.

In 2010, Kelley and Haywood wrote "Kiss Me Slowly" with Will Anderson, lead singer of the pop rock band, Parachute. The song made it on to the band's second album, The Way It Was, and was released to iTunes in the weeks leading up to the release of the album.

In addition, Kelley has co-written numerous songs for his brother, Josh Kelley, including "Just Say the Word" and "Pop Game" on Josh's 2006 album, Just Say the Word. Both songs were written by the brothers, along with Haywood. Kelley cowrote four other songs for Josh as well: "Lift Me Up", "Stay Awake", "Georgia Clay", and "Ain't Lettin' Go". Of those songs, the first two were on Josh's 2008 album, Special Company, while the remaining are featured on his 2011 country debut, Georgia Clay.

Kelley is married to Nashville-based publicist Cassie McConnell. He proposed to McConnell on Christmas Day, 2008, after two years of dating. The couple wed in a Nashville courthouse in June 2009 as a legal formality before having a destination wedding in the Bahamas the following Fourth of July weekend. After the wedding, Lady Antebellum tweeted a photo of Kelley showing off his wedding band, saying, "What is that you see on Charles' hand... yep a wedding ring!!!" McConnell represents several musicians, including her brother-in-law, Josh Kelley.

Resulting from his brother Josh Kelley's marriage, Charles Kelley is the brother in-law of actress Katherine Heigl.

Kelley had the lyrics, "All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise," from the Beatles song, "Blackbird", tattooed on his right forearm in early 2009. In 2010, Kelley got a second tattoo, a design of the flower of life, on his upper left arm.

In addition to being an avid golfer, Kelley is a motorcycle enthusiast and owns a 2006 Harley Softail Custom.

Awards and Nominations:

2010 Grammy Awards Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal - "I Run to You"
Best Country Song - "I Run to You" Nominated
Academy of Country Music Song of the Year - "Need You Now"
Country Music Association Song of the Year - "Need You Now"
2011 Grammy Awards Album of the Year - "Need You Now"
Best Country Album - "Need You Now" Won
Record of the Year - "Need You Now" Won
Song of the Year - "Need You Now" Won
Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal - "Need You Now" Won
Best Country Song - "Need You Now" Won
BMI Pop Song of the Year - "Need You Now"

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