Interesting Bits|

Lady A and Grammy Nominated Harp/Guitarist and Vocalist, Kenny Neal 2019 (from Lady A’s website)

By Elyse Dupre, Eonline.com | Luke Bryan is revealing what he really thinks of Lady A, formerly known as Lady Antebellum, changing the band’s name.

The 44-year-old singer, who has toured with the group and has written music with some of its members, shared his thoughts on the Aug. 11 episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.

“I don’t think they were anticipating the aftermath of being called Lady A,” Bryan said. “I can say that, for years, everyone in the community, in the country music community, has really referred to them as Lady A.”

Bryan then said he “thought it was a great option for them to choose” but that “now it’s tricky.”

“Like I said, who knows what they’ll have to figure out,” he added. “But, god, what a mess in the aftermath of removing ‘antebellum.'”

On June 11, Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and David Haywood announced their decision to drop the word “antebellum” from the band’s name and to move forward as “Lady A,” which they said was a nickname given to them by their fans “almost from the start.”

The country music stars expressed their regret and embarrassment over not considering the “associations that weigh down this word referencing the period of history before the Civil War, which includes slavery.” They also noted they “are deeply sorry for the hurt this has caused and for anyone who has felt unsafe, unseen or unvalued.”

Just one day later, blues singer Lady A called out the band, noting she’s been using the name for decades and claiming the group didn’t reach out to her before making the decision.

“They’re using the name because of a Black Lives Matter incident that, for them, is just a moment in time,” the artist, whose real name is Anita White, told Rolling Stone. “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.”

She added, “It’s an opportunity for them to pretend they’re not racist or pretend this means something to them. 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?”
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(E! and Bravo are both part of NBCUniversal).

Read the full story here and watch the video of Luke Bryan’s interview:
https://www.eonline.com/news/1178423/why-luke-bryan-calls-the-aftermath-of-lady-antebellums-name-change-a-mess
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Moral of the story: If you have a great band name and you expect your band to do great things, register it for trade name immediately! Not that expensive!

 

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