Charles Kelley‘s a member of the Grammy-winning country trio Lady A, whose song “Need You Now” was a massive pop hit in 2010. Now he’s got his own solo pop hit, “Can’t Lose You,” from his new album, Songs for a New Moon. The song and the entire album were heavily inspired by ’80s pop and yacht rock — a genre that Charles says reminds him of his childhood.
“I think it just feels like a warm blanket,” he tells ABC Audio. “I think it just takes me back to that time where I really didn’t have any worries — you know, you’re just a young kid. And that music just always stuck with me. … When I’m on the golf course playing golf, I mean, that’s what I put on my playlist.”
As for switching genres, Charles, who got sober in 2022, says, “This was kind of where I am right now in my life. I wasn’t in the mood to make some singer-songwriter record. … I’m just kind of like, ‘Man, I just want to show some joy.’ So it’s the perfect time for me to do this record.”
Describing the music as “fun and fresh,” Charles says he knew some die-hard country fans might object, but notes, “I think anybody that’s a music fan loves a little bit of everything.”
However, he now has to “start from scratch,” as he puts it, when it comes to reintroducing himself to people who only know him as “that guy from that group.”
“You have to … really get out there and find new fans any way you can,” he says, adding that he’d like to “create a little word-of-mouth.”
“I think that that would be the ultimate dream for this project, is just people just talking about it, you know?”
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