The country band, formerly known as Lady Antebellum, announced weeks ago back in June they were changing their name to get rid of its connotations with slavery.
The band shortly filed a trademark lawsuit against the Black Blues singer, Anita White, who has performed under the same name for 20 years.
Back in June they had a Zoom meeting with Anita and it seemed like everything was going well and they were working through the changes.
Today, we connected privately with the artist Lady A. Transparent, honest, and authentic conversations were had. We are excited to share we are moving forward with positive solutions and common ground. The hurt is turning into hope. More to come.#LadyABluesSoulFunkGospelArtist pic.twitter.com/P3uyhfO3gX
— Lady A (@ladya) June 15, 2020
Shortly after the meeting, and finding out about the lawsuit, White told Newsday the band “is trying to erase me. Trust is important and I no longer trust them,” she said.
The band, Lady A, is asking the court to grant them the right to continue using the “Lady A” name, noting that they are not requesting the Seattle-based singer, Anita White, stop using the stage name.
According to a statement from the band, Anita White demanded they pay her $10 million in order to use the name. “Today we are sad to share that our sincere hope to join together with Anita White in unity and common purpose has ended. She and her team have demanded a $10 million payment, so reluctantly we have come to the conclusion that we need to ask a court to affirm our right to continue to use the name Lady A, a trademark we have held for many years.“
Anita White had told Rolling Stones this statement “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,” she said. “This is too much right now. 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. It’s an opportunity for them to pretend they’re not racist or pretend this means something to them,” she added. “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?“
Do you feel like the country band Lady A is doing the right thing? Should they just change their name completely?
