Charles Kelley

Kelley was born in Augusta, Georgia, the youngest of three boys of Gayle and Dr. John W. Kelley, a now retired cardiologist. He 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.[2] In middle school, Kelley met Dave Haywood[3] and, at the age of 14, they wrote their first song. They both graduated from Lakeside High School in Evans, Georgia.

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.[4] He graduated in 2004 with a degree in finance.[5]

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.[6] 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