Country band Lady A files suit against singer with same name

Country group Lady A, which dropped word “Antebellum,” from ir name because of word's ties to slavery, has filed a lawsuit against a Black singer who has performed as Lady A for years.

Grammy-winning vocal group filed lawsuit on Wednesday in federal court after negotiations with Anita White broke down in recent weeks. According to lawsuit, band is seeking a ruling that ir use of trademark “Lady A” does t infringe on White's alleged trademark rights of same name. band is t seeking monetary dams.

group made up Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood anunced name change last month , saying y were regretful for t taking into consideration word antebellum's associations with slavery.

But White, who has been releasing blues and soul music for years as Lady A, complained publicly that band never reached out to her before changing ir name. Negotiations over name failed to reach an agreement.

According to lawsuit, band applied for trademarks for name “Lady A” for entertainment services and for use on clothing back in 2010 and oppositions were filed by any person or entity.

“When we learned that Ms. White had also been performing under name Lady A, we had heartfelt discussions with her about how we can all come toger and make something special and beautiful out of this moment,” said group in a statement. “We never even entertained idea that she shouldn’t also be able to use name Lady A, and never will — today’s action doesn’t change that.”