Lady A's Charles Kelley reveals multiple myeloma diagnosis: 'I feel really hopeful'
The Lady A frontman announced the rare blood cancer diagnosis in an Instagram video alongside wife Cassie, saying he remains hopeful and plans to keep working through treatment.
Lady A frontman Charles Kelley, 45, has revealed he has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a rare blood cancer, in an Instagram video filmed alongside his wife, Cassie, on Tuesday, Sept 29 and captioned “A little health update.” (People; EW)
“A couple of random rib fractures” prompted several blood tests, the last of which found the cancer. He struck a hopeful tone: “I’m young, I feel healthy, and the treatments … have come so far, even in the past five years, that even the life expectancy far exceeds what it used to be. I feel really hopeful.” (EW; People)
Sharing the news echoed his sobriety journey — four years sober celebrated in July after 2022 addiction treatment. “Getting this stuff off your chest is so freeing and it takes the power away from it a little bit,” he said. “We’re gonna get through it.” (People)
He plans to keep working: the first six months of treatment should be “not … too super invasive”, a new Lady A record is coming, and the This Winter’s Night Christmas tour runs Dec 10–21. A friend diagnosed with the same cancer about two months earlier has helped him. (The Tennessean; EW)
Sons Ward, 10, and Archer, 1 since Sept 16; Cassie thanked their “great care community” in Nashville. Multiple myeloma is a blood cancer of plasma cells in bone marrow; the Mayo Clinic puts five-year US survival at 64% (2016–2022), with the death rate falling ~3% a year since 2015. (People)
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