Hot off the heels of their new album ‘Ocean,’ country pop group Lady Antebellum showed “Crazy Love” to their Toronto fans at an exclusive, up close and personal iHeartRadio Secret Session on Nov. 21.

With over 100 of their biggest supporters filling the Lounge at Live Nation space in Liberty Village, the group participated in an on-stage Q&A, led by Pure Country personality Shannon Ella, and a six-song set featuring two recent singles and several fan fave throwbacks.

.@ladyantebellum’s #Toronto fans are no joke! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 @iHeartRadioCA #iHeartRadioSecretSession pic.twitter.com/wgQENLfMxt

— Angela McLean (@angelamcleanx) November 23, 2019

Q&A

The band has a long recorded history in the city, filming the video for their breakout single “Need You Now” at the Omni King Edward hotel and opening their last summer tour at Budweiser Stage — making Toronto the perfect spot for such an intimate gig.

“[This] is a way for us to kind of make it more about the song[s], and we consider ourselves songwriters first,” Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley explained. “We feel like when we perform … just on piano, there’s something about those lyrics [that] take[s] on a little bit more of a heartbreak and meaning to us… and we get to see everyone’s faces! Great people in Canada.”

Bandmate Dave Haywood likened the evening’s set-up to their starting days playing shows at bars in Nashville. “We could be spontaneous, we could change the set list, mix it up,” he shared.

“We just love the city so much. The love is mutual!” front woman Hillary Scott exclaimed, prompting the crowd to go even wilder.

Answering a mix of scripted and fan-submitted questions, Lady Antebellum shared the inside scoop on recent appearances and collaborations, including performing with Halsey (a previous iHeartRadio Secret Session headliner) at the CMA Awards. The viral performance mashed up Halsey’s latest hit “Graveyard” and their own “What If I Never Get Over You.”

Hillary said the CMA Awards team introduced the pair, with the idea being sparked at the Billboard Music Awards earlier this year. “It wasn’t until we kind of played them back to back and saw that they could really mesh well that we really were like, OK, this makes total sense, because you never want to force those things,” Hillary shared. “We are huge fans of Halsey.” Charles added, “[Those songs] were meant to be together! We got goosebumps.” After meeting and rehearsing the mash-up for the first time, Dave said “it kind of felt like we were writing a song together.”

Throughout the evening, the crowd kept up their energy by not only singing along but also engaging in some quick-witted banter with the band. At one point, Charles joked about the lack of AC in the room, saying, “I hear this is what sexy people do in Canada: sweat.” Hillary had a genius comeback: “Women don’t sweat — we glow.”

.@HillaryScottLA hit the nail on the head with this comeback 😂 #iHeartRadioSecretSession @ladyantebellum pic.twitter.com/bKVCtLZUyL

— Angela McLean (@angelamcleanx) November 23, 2019

Live Performance

Kicking off their set, Lady Antebellum took time to share insight on the stories behind the songs.

On finding the theme for the album, Charles described:

Hillary — I mean, God bless her — two months after having twin girls sends us this song that she wrote called ‘Let It Be Love’ and we were like, OK, now we have a theme, and a concept moving forward. We can’t dumb it down with anything silly on this record. This has to have meaning, every song has to have a purpose, and it just kind of led to this honest, vulnerable theme for the whole record.

Charles also shared that “Need You Now” truly was “the song that changed it all for us.”

The beauty of this song! @ladyantebellum smashed it with “Need You Now” ❤️ #iHeartRadioSecretSession pic.twitter.com/0X1K9RpPIw

— Angela McLean (@angelamcleanx) November 23, 2019

No better song to end on than “Downtown” — especially in DT #Toronto! @ladyantebellum #iHeartRadioSecretSession 🎶 pic.twitter.com/k4fc5SEf4D

— Angela McLean (@angelamcleanx) November 23, 2019

The best way for me to end off the night was running into Hillary, Dave and Charles while exiting the venue. The trio were as kind and gracious as can be, and I don’t think I’ve ever been called “sweetie” so many times in a three minute period. Definitely a memorable encounter!

Expect ‘Ocean’ tour dates to be announced soon, and stay tuned to find out who will headline the next iHeartRadio Secret Session. 👀

Are you a member of the “Lady A Team”? Let me know which songs off the new album you have on repeat!

Comment below or tweet me @angelamcleanx.

Happy listening xx