Lady Antebellum Is Now Lady A—Which Is Also the Name of a Black Blues Singer
Lady Antebellum should just take the L and change their name to something different from Lady A, which is already taken.
Country band Lady Antebellum has announced that they are changing their name from Lady Antebellum to Lady A.
The band decided to change their original name due to the term "Antebellum"—which has associations with the pre-abolition South. (The term "antebellum" means "before the war" and is typically associated with the pre-Civil War-era United States. Specifically, the Antebellum South refers to the era when the United States' South was profiting off of slavery).
"When we set out together almost 14 years ago, we named our band after the Southern 'antebellum' style home where we took our first photos," the group wrote in a long social media post. "As musicians, it reminded us of all the music born in the South that influenced us …But we are regretful and embarrassed to say that we did not take into account the associations that weigh down this word," they continued.
Unfortunately, the band has also failed to properly research their new name. The title "Lady A" already belongs to a blues singer named Anita White, who has been using the name Lady A for twenty years. In an interview with Rolling Stone, she expressed her dismay at Lady A's decision and is requesting that the band pick a different title.
"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?"
Lady A added that she is speaking with lawyers and attempting to trademark her title.
If Lady Antebellum is actually committed to listening and learning and supporting the movement for racial justice, they should probably show some support for the actual Lady A, preferably by paying her or promoting her music, and then they should pick another name, possibly a totally different one. After all, Lady A still sounds like it's applying to Lady Antebellum; it's just better hidden, which is not what we want to happen with the latent white supremacy that still haunts so much of America.
Anyway, stream the actual Lady A here.