Unexpected Grammy Nomination May Have Salvaged Charles Kelley’s Solo Career
It wasn’t looking good for Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley and his bid to launch a solo career amid a hiatus the trio took beginning in late 2015. Despite some additional star power with Dierks Bentley and Eric Paslay, much critical praise, and a big promotional push, his first single “The Driver” stalled big time on the charts. It couldn’t even crack the Top 50 on country radio, and it looked like Kelley’s solo career could be in serious trouble.
Adding insult to injury, a 22-date concert tour that was booked and announced in October that looked to put Kelley in more intimate settings to re-connect with fans was unceremoniously scrubbed due to lagging ticket sales. It appeared that outside of the loving confines of the Lady Antebellum name, Charles Kelley, despite all his slender good looks and affable tone, was just another small fish in a big sea looking for attention in an extremely crowded country music marketplace.
Then the completely unexpected happened. Right as Kelley was cancelling concert dates amid the terrible reception, a bombshell dropped. Despite all of the odds, his song “The Driver” had been nominated for Best Country Duo or Group Performance by the Grammy Awards.
How did this happen? How did a song that seemed to have been forgotten by the public, and was never even known by the radio walk away with such a distinction?
The Grammy success of “The Driver” may have all to do with fortuitous timing. The single was released on September 28th—a mere two days before the Grammy eligibility window closed, and right as the Grammy nomination window was opening. After years of suffering under the repressive regime of Bro-Country, “The Driver” felt like an incredible breath of fresh air to the country music punditry, stimulating Grammy voters and the writers who influence them into praising “The Driver,” even if under closer inspection the lyrics revealed there wasn’t much to it. It didn’t hurt that Dierks Bentley and Eric Paslay’s involvement gave the song additional benefactors if it were to receive a nomination.
Before Charles Kelley’s Grammy nod, his solo career looked like it was heading towards becoming a big a lark that would never fly, and an afterthought in the Lady Antebellum legacy. Now, his debut solo album also entitled The Driver has received a release date—something it seems half the major label artists in Nashville are waiting on these days. On February 5th, The Driver will make its way to stores, with crossed fingers that Grammy night will be a fortuitous one, and help boost sales and result in a restart of Kelley’s solo efforts.
With so many projects with slow lead singles in limbo up and down Music Row, Charles Kelley slipped through the gauntlet due to some very fortunate timing. We’ll find out on February 5th if it is an advantageous, or unfortunate thing for the country music public.
January 13, 2016 @ 9:31 am
Delaying release dates of music in the can seems to run counter to the notion of Music Row being slow to respond to market changes.
January 13, 2016 @ 9:43 am
I feel like Feb. 5 is way too early. I mean, in one month can this song possibly even reach the Top 20 on radio?
January 13, 2016 @ 10:05 am
I think “The Driver” is dead. Maybe, MAYBE there’s a resurgence somewhere and it cracks the Top 40, but I think country radio has already voted. The quick release date is in hopes to trying to piggy back off the Grammy nomination, and a Grammy win if it happens.
January 13, 2016 @ 10:10 am
The song did debut at #47 this week on Mediabase and is posting gains. Could they be attempting to make this into a sleeper hit? Or are they gonna pretend that this is Kelley’s “critically acclaimed” solo album that was too good for radio or something?
January 13, 2016 @ 9:48 am
wel wel wel looky here looky here. another yeer n another bama nationall championchip. an I wood like to point out I predected they wood win a hole yeer ago to day.
now here my 2016 predections
1 donalld trump will win the president
2 bama will win the title agin
3 blate sheltan will see the arrers in his ways n try to win maranda back
Role tide!
January 13, 2016 @ 11:23 am
The weird thing is, if you were to tell me at the height of Lady Antebellum’s pop-country fame that one of the three would go on to have a solo career, I would’ve guessed it would be the female singer.
By the way, speaking of radio, I just took a glance at Billboard’s Country Airplay chart and it looks like Chris Stapleton’s “Nobody to Blame” is still rising… slowly.
January 13, 2016 @ 12:49 pm
If you would have told me that at the height of Lady Antebellum’s pop-country fame just FIVE YEARS ago that they’d already be on the rocks, I would have straight up belly laughed. For as huge as this group was that relatively short time ago they sure have fallen on hard times. Turns out that not just traditional country fans get tired of anemic love ballad redundancies scrubbed of anything resembling personality passing for hit songs.
January 13, 2016 @ 12:51 pm
Not sure about the music, but I DO like his “throwback” album cover consisting of just a head shot, the track listing and the record label stamp. Almost like an old Merle Haggard cover (you know, with a pressed haircut, v-neck shirt and tattoo to make himself look cultured).
January 13, 2016 @ 2:19 pm
Maybe he should tour as Ronnie Bunns instead.
January 13, 2016 @ 5:44 pm
Who in their right mind would ever think of giving this clown a Grammy award? He doesn’t deserve any award period. Lady A is a dumb adolescent-High-School band with zero depth and barely if any real talent.
January 13, 2016 @ 8:04 pm
Who the hell is this guy and why does he have a Chinese checker board tattooed on his arm?
January 13, 2016 @ 9:17 pm
Maybe he’ll do a country cover of Lois Lane’s “Chinese Checkers.”
January 13, 2016 @ 10:41 pm
“We”™ll find out on February 5th if it is an advantageous, or unfortunate thing for the country music public.”
I think we can already say today that it will be unfortunate, unless you’re part of the Pop crowd.
January 14, 2016 @ 2:00 am
This is a joke wth s the big deal about a Grammy anyway? Theyve been wrong hundreds of times
That stupid lady a has always been an embarrassing studio pop concoction now the model-wannabe poseur boy sanger wants a solo career? Ha ha ha ha ha remember… His “wife” is in pr
January 14, 2016 @ 2:07 am
I think upchuck Charley, miss piggy and that weasel they’ve got on piano need to get on over to the hall o fame and learn what real country is all about maybe they can check out the taytay swiftless educational center “lady a” is one of the biggest farces pulled on the uneducated country fan public in a long time what a sham