Lady A

Positioned between current country sounds and adult contemporary territory, Lady A concentrates on understated tracks brimming with melody and layered vocal harmonies. Their breakthrough arrived with the 2009 release of “I Run to You,” the first Country chart-topper for the trio of Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley, and Dave Haywood, yet the follow-up single “Need You Now” propelled them into pop prominence by reaching number two on Billboard’s Hot 100. Throughout the ensuing decade and into the 2020s, additional Country Airplay number ones such as “American Honey,” “Just a Kiss,” “We Owned the Night,” “Downtown,” “Bartender,” “Champagne Night,” and “Friends Don’t Let Friends” kept them visible while they periodically crossed into the pop Top 40.

Scott first encountered Kelley and Haywood in Nashville; within months the newly formed group secured a recording deal with Capitol Nashville in 2007. Their initial single, “Love Don’t Live Here,” climbed to number three on the country charts. A self-titled debut album arrived in April 2008, produced by Victoria Shaw and Paul Worley and containing further country successes, among them the chart-topping “I Run to You,” which also registered as a Top 40 pop hit.

Roughly eighteen months later the debut album achieved platinum certification and earned a Grammy nomination, prompting the trio to celebrate while preparing their sophomore project. Need You Now surfaced in early 2010; its title track quickly became their highest-charting release to that point, topping the country charts and peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 before moving more than three million copies. The album itself followed a comparable trajectory, attaining gold status in its second week and platinum certification shortly thereafter. By early 2011 sales in the United States alone surpassed three million units, after which the group paused work on a third studio album to accept five Grammy Awards.

For their 2011 third album Own the Night, Lady A wrote ten of the twelve songs and again collaborated with Worley on production. The project yielded an immediate country hit in “Just a Kiss,” which set a record as their fastest-rising single and later reached number one on Billboard’s adult contemporary chart. The follow-up, “Dancin’ Away with My Heart,” advanced to number two on the country chart. In fall 2012 they issued the holiday collection On This Winter’s Night, which entered the Billboard Top Ten and received gold certification in the U.S.

Golden, their fourth studio album, appeared in May 2013. Led by the successful single “Downtown,” it debuted at number one on the Billboard charts, though the second single “Goodbye Town” faltered commercially. A deluxe edition released in November 2013 revitalized interest through the addition of “Compass,” a track penned by the production team Stargate that reached the country Top Ten in early 2014. Later that year the trio delivered 747, their first album helmed by Nathan Chapman rather than Worley. Its opening single “Bartender” became a Top Ten country hit ahead of the album’s arrival, while “Freestyle” and “Long Stretch of Love” provided further modest successes throughout 2015.

After taking a break in 2016 that allowed Kelley and Scott to explore solo endeavors, Lady A resurfaced in summer 2017 with the gentle, busbee-produced Heart Break, which garnered a Grammy nomination. Early 2019 brought a residency at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, followed months later by the single “What If I Never Get Over You,” the first track extracted from Ocean, their debut release on the Big Machine subsidiary BMLG. Produced by Dann Huff, Ocean arrived in November 2019, debuting at number two on the Top Country Albums chart and number 11 on the Billboard 200.

January 2021 saw Lady A inducted as members of the Grand Ole Opry. That March they unveiled “Like a Lady,” an ’80s-inflected retro-pop number drawing inspiration from Dolly Parton and Shania Twain; the song introduced the eighth studio album What a Song Can Do, issued in October 2021. Once more produced by Huff, the record featured the star-studded single “Friends Don’t Let Friends,” which included appearances by Darius Rucker, Thomas Rhett, and Carly Pearce. Over the next two years the group continued with standalone releases: the breezy pop anthem “Summer State of Mind” in 2022 and the wistful country ballad “Love You Back” in 2023.