“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.”
Country band Lady Antebellum announced they were changing their name to Lady A amid the new wave of the Black Lives Matter movement — but there’s one blues singer who’s not thrilled with the decision.
Why? Because she already goes by Lady A.
Seattle-based Lady A — real name Anita White — said she was alerted to the news on Thursday by friends and family, as she has been using the moniker herself for over two decades, per Rolling Stone.
“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,” White, 61, said. “This is too much right now.”
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“They’re using the name because of a Black Lives Matter incident that, for them, is just a moment in time,” she continued. “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.”
She said no one from the group — made up of Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood — reached out to her before they revealed the planned change.
“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.”
On her Instagram page, she wrote, “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.”
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White told the music publication that she is not sure how to proceed, but she will be seeking legal advice, as she claimed, “I’m not about to stop using my name.”
“I’m not going to lay down and let this happen to me. But now the burden of proof is on me to prove that my name is in fact mine, and I don’t even know how much I’ll have to spend to keep it.”
A rep for Lady Antebellum told the news outlet that the band was unaware another musician was using the name and that they would be reaching out to White.
On Thursday, the Grammy-winning group announced the name change, writing on Instagram, “After much personal reflection, band discussion, prayer and many honest conversations with some of our closest Black friends and colleagues, we have decided to drop the word ‘antebellum’ from our name and move forward as Lady A, the nickname our fans gave us almost from the start.”
The group said they didn’t realize the association the word “antebellum” has to pre-Civil War times and slavery. But they were made aware in the wake of the protests across the country after the death of George Floyd, the 46-year-old Black man who died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for almost nine minutes during an arrest on May 25.
“We are deeply sorry for the hurt this has caused and for anyone who has felt unsafe, unseen or unvalued,” the band’s statement read. “Causing pain was never our hearts’ intention, but it doesn’t change the fact that indeed, it did just that. So today, we speak up and make a change.”
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