Lady Antebellum is now “Lady A” — but so is a black blues singer who’s performed music under the name for 20 years. “For them to not even reach out is pure privilege,” says the woman with the original moniker https://t.co/yl0FCVVE0B pic.twitter.com/67tEmlQMqO
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) June 12, 2020
Seattle blues singer Lady A received a bombardment of phone messages from friends, fans and producers came in all shouting the same thing: Her name had been stolen.
This Lady A — a 61-year-old black woman whose real name is Anita White — has been playing the blues under the name for more than 20 years.
She’s frustrated that Lady Antebellum hadn’t gone to her before making a decision, pointing out the irony in changing a name in support of racial equality while simultaneously taking another one from a black performer.
A rep for Lady Antebellum said the band was not aware of the other artist and plans to reach out to her.
Seattle’s Lady A holds a business trademark for Lady A LLC but does not know where she stands from a legal standpoint; she is going to speak with a lawyer next week to discuss her options.
If the two parties end up going to court, one group will likely have to alter their name.
The newly-named Lady A may also have to pay a sum to the Seattle singer if there’s proof of damages.
"They’re using the name because of a BLM 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. You found me on Spotify easily — why couldn’t they? I’m not about to stop using my name. For them to not even reach out is pure privilege. 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.”
source
← Ctrl ← Alt
Ctrl → Alt →
← Ctrl ← Alt
Ctrl → Alt →