In light of what is going on in the US at the moment (one of the things, anyway), the country group formerly known as Lady Antebellum changed their name. In a move they admitted is long overdue, the group renamed themselves to Lady A, truncating “Antebellum” due to the word’s ties to slavery. Not everybody was happy with the change, though: A gospel singer who has performed as Lady A for two decades offered some strong criticisms of the band’s new name, especially due to the fact that she never heard from the group.
Now, though, the two parties have connected. The band shared a screenshot of a video call they had with the singer, and wrote on Instagram, “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.” Also on the call were two artists who perform with the singer, John Oliver III of Gleanings Community Bible Church and Dexter Allen.
The singer also shared the post with the same caption. On her Instagram Story, she shared somebody else’s Story, in which they posted a screenshot of an article about the name controversy. The person wrote, “Do a song together? In the spirit of racial reconciliation? Be next Lil NazX and Billy Ray.” Lady A did not add a comment to the post.
Ahead of the call, Lady A the singer said of the band, “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.” Thankfully, though, it now appears the singer and the band have come to some sort of understanding.
