Lady A's Dave Haywood Reveals Surprising 'Proudest Achievement In Music'

Dave Haywood reflected on what he called “my proudest achievement in music,” and it might not be the moment fans expect. The Lady A artist told media outlets at the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas on Monday night (March 7) that his recent ping-pong victory was the highlight of his career.

The highly-anticipated tournament happened at the Country Radio Seminar, hosted last month in Nashville. Haywood marked his win at CRS 2022 with a championship belt, which he said in a video shared on Lady A’s social media would be displayed in front of all his other awards “and around my waist at every show.” He also said his “whole career has led to this moment.”

Bandmate Charles Kelley “was my biggest cheerleader,” Haywood recalled. “We travel with a ping pong table on the road when we tour. We play backstage, it’s so fun, but it was a big tournament. I had to beat Scotty McCreery, and Clay Walker, and Adam Doleac was really good… Me and Charles played each other in the semi-finals, so we settled a lot of old grievances in that match. But it was fun. My proudest achievement in music.”

Kelley admitted that he “knew (Haywood) was gonna beat me, but to watch him win… I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud. I was rooting him on.” Kelley also said in the video that Lady A shared, “this might’ve been my proudest moment.” Watch it here: