Anita “Lady A” White spelled out her stage name dispute with country trio Lady A, formerly known as Lady Antebellum, in an interview with ABC News Prime yesterday (July 14).
“I’ve built this name for decades before they were born, and I’ve been building it,” the 61-year-old singer argued as part of her case during the television segment. Later, she compared the “routine” of independent musicians with BIPOC, or blacks, colored Indians, and said: “Sometimes all we have is our name. We don’t want it taken from us. They take away our culture, our music. . ” is taken. This is more important to those who come after me. “
In June, the country trio (Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley, and David Haywood) announced on Instagram that they were abbreviating the notorious stage name they had been wearing since 2006, dating back to the southern Civil War before the Civil War. , after experiencing “a lot of personal reflection” on the Black Lives Matter movement. But the Seattle-based blues singer said Rolling Stone who was surprised by her new ad because she has been acting and recording as “Lady A” since 1987.
White told ABC News Live presenter Linsey Davis that the resulting lack of communication between the band and the blues singer stemmed from his confusion over coexistence under the same nickname. The musician felt “ignored” and ignored when he asked the lawyers of the rural act what exactly it meant to coexist on three different occasions. During their “transparent, honest and authentic conversations” about Zoom that the band Lady A documented on Instagram last month, singer Lady A asked the same question.
“I’ve released five compact discs under Lady A. They haven’t put one CD under Lady A,” he said. “That’s her nickname. This is my professional name.”
In order to hold people accountable as part of her work on race and social justice, singer Lady A cited that the band Lady A first mentioned the Black Lives Matter movement when they announced the name change. White stated that a sincere alliance sometimes requires giving up something, the stage name in this case. She remembered feeling excited when the Grammy-winning band offered to work on a song with her, but she wasn’t willing to check the box to be the “symbolic person to keep you awake.”
Billboard It previously reported in early July that the band filed a lawsuit against the singer after she “delivered a draft settlement agreement that included an outrageous monetary demand” of $ 10 million. The dollar amount breaks down into $ 5 million in personal compensation for rebranding and another $ 5 million for charity, as White believes that is the price of life she wants to return to but cannot under normal circumstances.
“If I’m going to have to rename myself as something else, because I can’t share a name with you … I decided well, maybe the rebranding could be the right thing to do. Although I would have to explain that to In my community I would have to explain to the children that I am a mentor, “said the singer. “I thought, ‘Well, you know what? I can take $ 5 million, rename myself, change all my CDs …’ No one knows what the brand change entails. The other $ 5 million? I asked my attorneys if they could split in three charities. One would be Black Lives Matter because Lady Antebellum said so. “
The other two causes she hopes to support include older people and young adults in her Seattle community, as well as American musicians struggling with legal issues.
Check out the singer’s interview with ABC News Live below.