Warner/Chappell Music signs worldwide publishing deal with Lady Antebellum
PRESS RELEASE:
Warner/Chappell Music (WCM), the music publishing arm of Warner Music Group, today announced that it has signed a worldwide publishing agreement with Grammy Award-winning country group Lady Antebellum. The deal brings all three hit songwriters and group members — Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, and Hillary Scott — to Warner/Chappell, which will represent the majority of the Lady Antebellum catalog.
The trio has co-written the vast majority of Lady Antebellum’s songs, including “I Run to You,” “Need You Now,” and “Bartender.” Between them, Haywood, Kelley, and Scott have also written material for artists Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, and Hunter Hayes and No. 1 hits for Luke Bryan, Darius Rucker, and Sara Evans.
“We’ve worked with Warner/Chappell before and are so happy to have them on our team once again,” said Kelley. "Ben and the entire Nashville group are a talented bunch of publishers, and we’re grateful for the care and attention that they pay to our music.”
“The first charted hit written by Dave, Charles, and Hillary was in 2007 and just a few short years later their body of work is impressive on a global scale”, said Ben Vaughn, Executive Vice President, Warner/Chappell Music Nashville.
“Their music touches fans all over the world and besides their impressive work as Lady Antebellum they have received numerous songwriting awards including being recognized as NMPA’s Songwriter Icon Award winner this year. The W/C family takes great pride welcoming back these amazing songwriters and people.”
Collectively, the members of Lady Antebellum have earned an extraordinary number of accolades, including the National Music Publishers’ Association Icon Award, seven Grammy Awards, seven CMA Awards, four American Music Awards and eight ACM Awards, among many others. They have earned nine No. 1 singles on the Billboard charts and sold more than 11 million albums worldwide.
Beyond Lady Antebellum, Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley have co-written songs for a number of notable recording artists, including Luke Bryan’s “Do I,” which landed at No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart, as well as Miranda Lambert’s “Love Song” and Hunter Hayes’ “Better Than This.” Kelly also co-wrote Darius Rucker’s No. 1 hit, “Homegrown Honey.” Hillary Scott co-wrote Sara Evans’ song, “A Little Bit Stronger,” which was the lead single from Evans’ sixth studio album, reaching No. 1 on the charts and featured in the film Country Strong. Scott has received 35 awards from SESAC, including three Songwriter of the Year wins, as well as the SESAC Pop Song of the Year and Country Song of the Year awards for “Need You Now.” The group’s hit, “Need You Now,” also earned the BMI Pop Song of the Year award.