Lady Antebellum changed name to Lady A without realizing it was already taken by black singer Anita White
Country music superstars Lady Antebellum recently made headlines when they changed their name to Lady A, a positive move meant to move past the negative connotations of the word "antebellum." The term 'Antebellum' is rooted in the pre-Civil War era and was a lasting reminder of the Antebellum South's history of plantations and slavery in the United States. So in light of the recent Black Lives Matter protests that have been sweeping the nation, the multiple Grammy award-winning trio of Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood decided to drop "Antebellum" from their name and shorten it to "Lady A", a commonly used nickname for their band on fan message boards. They were attempting to sidestep the name's potentially racist connotations and open up further discussions on the BLM movement.
However, far more conversations will be devoted to the fact that they neglected to check if the name was already taken. As it turns out, Lady A is already being used by a blues and soul singer called Anita White, a 61-year-old Seattle-based musician. Anita White had been using Lady A as her stage name for the past few decades now, and it seems a bit strange that the country music trio did not attempt to clear the naming rights with her before taking the name for themselves. White has already released a few albums under the Lady A moniker and only heard about the bemusing news from friends and colleagues after the name change was made official.
Speaking to Rolling Stone about the hasty rebranding effort by Lady A, an unimpressed Anita White said, "This is my life. Lady A is my brand, I’ve used it for over 20 years, and I’m proud of what I’ve done. This is too much right now."
She continued, saying "They’re using the name because of a Black Lives Matter incident that, for them, is just a moment in time. If it mattered, it would have mattered to them before. It shouldn’t have taken George Floyd to die for them to realize that their name had a slave reference to it."
White also added, "It’s an opportunity for them to pretend they’re not racist or pretend this means something to them. If it did, they would’ve done some research. And I’m not happy about that. You found me on Spotify easily—why couldn’t they?"
It is understood that Lady A (the band) will be reaching out to Anita White shortly to iron out this thorny issue, which could certainly have legal ramifications for both parties if left unchecked.