Hot as a six-shooter, singing trio Lady Antebellum simply says: I’ve got your sophomore slump right here! Hot off their first Grammy win (Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for “I Run to You”), the band’s second album, Need You Now, is the well, hottest album in the land, regardless of format, and its title track is well, sizzling as well, burning up various charts (No. 5 and climbing on Billboard’s Hot 100, and No. 13 on the magazine’s Pop Chart). Did we mention these guys are…HOT?!
The Lady Is A Champ: The numbers are staggering for Lady Antebellum’s second album, Need You Now: the record debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (currently at No. 2) and Country album charts, spending two weeks in a row at the top of the 200 albums sales survey. Its first week sales figure was an awesome 481,000 copies (the biggest debut sales week for any album since Scottish sensation Susan Boyle’s I Dreamed a Dream last November), and surpassed the one million sales mark in just 4 weeks, becoming the first million-selling album of 2010. By comparison, the band’s 2008 self-titled debut opened at No. 4, selling 43,000 its opening week. But wait, there’s more: the title track and first single spent 5 weeks atop the Hot Country Songs chart, and, as previously mentioned, currently sits in the top 5 and 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Pop charts, respectively. Do the math: these guys are on fire!
In a recent Billboard interview, vocalist Charles Kelley was asked if he’d called his mama after hearing Need You Now had debuted at No. 1. “I didn’t call mine… If I were to call my mom and say, ‘Guess what, we sold almost 500,000 the first week,’ she would say, ‘Well, that’s just wonderful.’” That kind of down-to-earth mentality is what keeps Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood grounded while their careers skyrocket. When asked about their recent Grammy win, again Kelley keeps things in perspective: “The Grammys were a big moment, but we felt a bit like fish out of water with all those big-time musicians.”
The seeds for Lady’s success were planted in 2006 when the threesome gathered in the Nashville-area home of Kelley’s brother to work on its sound, a perfect mixture of classic country, 60s soul, and 70s singer/songwriter sensibility. “We held ourselves hostage in a writing room until the early hours of the morning every night,” says Haywood. Their 2008 self-titled debuted shot straight to No. 1, powered by the chart-topping “Love Don’t Live Here.” Almost immediately they were whisked away, asked to open for major headliners including Martina McBride, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson, Carrie Underwood, and Taylor Swift (the last two, fellow Pop chart crossover superstars), among others.
Kelley explains the chemistry – on stage and off – that has created the environment for the trio’s swift success: “I’m the analytical perfectionist, Hillary brings the silliness and the emotion, and Dave is the calming glue. Everyone balances everybody out.” That balance – personally and professionally – has tipped the scales in Lady Antebellum’s favor as far as achieving inexplicable success in such a short time. So what’s next? Scott was quick to tell Billboard, “I would love to get to the point where we can fill up an arena and have a show that just builds and builds. We want to be entertainers, not just get up and sing our songs.” Those goals could and should be reached by next week!
Need To Know Basis: Catch Lady Antebellum perform “Need You Now” live at the 2009 CMA Awards:
As A Matter of Fact…
* Hillary Scott and Charles Kelley first met at a Nashville music spot; Dave Haywood and Kelley are middle school friends and attended the University of Georgia together.
* Hillary Scott’s parents are Grammy-winning country artist Linda Davis and musician Lang Scott.
* Each of the three members brings diverse influences into the group; from The Allman Brothers Band to Vince Gill, The Eagles to Keith Urban, Gladys Knight to Travis Tritt.
* There is not much of a story behind the band’s name; it was inspired by a fun photo shoot in front of an Antebellum-style home. “There’s not anything too terribly meaningful behind it,” says Kelley.