Lady A, the country trio formerly known as Lady Antebellum, met on Monday in a virtual call with the other Lady A, a blues, soul and gospel singer who had already been using the stage name for years.
On Monday, though, both artists shared screengrabs of a Skype call, in which they seem to have ironed out their differences and come to an agreement about their names.
“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,” the country trio, made up of musicians Dave Haywood, Hillary Scott and Charles Kelley, shared on Twitter.
“God is good and Communication is key. So glad to speak with @ladya, these amazing young people. Together Change is possible in this world,” White said in a tweet.
The band last week changed their name to Lady A, saying that the reference to the slavery era made them rethink their moniker.
“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 Nashville-based band said in a statement. “As musicians, it reminded us of all the music born in the south that influenced us…Southern Rock, Blues, R&B, Gospel and of course Country. But we are regretful and embarrassed to say that we did not take into account the associations that weigh down this word referring to the period of history before The Civil War, which includes slavery.”
But Anita White, who has performed under the name Lady A since the 1980s, soon called out the band for taking her stage name.
On Friday, White blasted the band in an interview with Rolling Stone and said she had no intention of changing her own moniker. She also said there was hypocrisy in choosing a name to avoid a slavery-era reference while simultaneously taking a name already belonging to a black artist.
“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,” White told Rolling Stone last week. “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.”
White also owns the trademark Lady A LLC and even intended to release a live album titled “Lady A: Live in New Orleans” on July 18, her birthday.
See the tweets below:
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
God is good and Communication is key.
So glad to speak with @ladya these amazing young people. Together Change is possible in this world. #TheTruthIsLoud #LadyABluesSoulFunkGospelArtist pic.twitter.com/hpDSMboj1h— Lady A (@TheRealLadyA) June 16, 2020