Seattle blues singer Anita White, who performs under the name Lady A, has countersued the country band formerly known as Lady Antebellum, Rolling Stone reports. White is seeking unspecified damages and music royalties in the trademark infringement and unfair competition lawsuit. The complaint cites “lost sales, diminished brand identity, and diminution in the value of and goodwill associated with the mark.” Find the full lawsuit below.
On July 8, the band sued White, claiming that she had demanded $10 million from them and that they needed “to ask a court to affirm our right to continue to use the name Lady A.” White responded in an interview with Vulture, saying that the band had rejected several of her other proposals to compromise and that she had hoped to split the $10 million evenly between her own rebranding efforts and funding to support other Black artists.
On June 11, the country trio announced that they were dropping “Antebellum” from their name due to the word’s association with slavery in the United States, going by Lady A instead. They had not consulted White, a Black woman who has performed and recorded under the name Lady A for more than 20 years. “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,” she said.