On Thursday, Hillary Scott, Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley of the Grammy-winning country trio Lady Antebellum released a statement announcing that, “after much personal reflection, band discussion, prayer and many honest conversations with some of our closest Black friends and colleagues,” they were dropping “Antebellum” from their band name due to “associations that weigh down this word referring to the period of history before the Civil War, which includes slavery.” Instead, the group would now be known by its more benign nickname, Lady A.
While this gesture may have been well intentioned, unfortunately, it turns out that the band’s new moniker is also problematic. The stage name “Lady A” already belongs to a 61-year-old black woman who has released several albums over the past two decades. The Seattle blues singer’s most recent release is Doin' Fine, from 2018, and she has a new record, Lady A: Live in New Orleans, set to come out on July 18.
The original Lady A, whose real name is Anita White, blasted the country group in an Instagram post this Friday, saying:
"How can you say Black Lives Matter and put your knee on the neck of another Black artist? I'm not mad…I am however not giving up my name, my brand I worked hard for."