Country band Lady A, formerly Lady Antebellum, sues blues singer Anita White over same name - CBS News

In June, the band formerly known as Lady Antebellum announced it would change its name to Lady A to remove any association with slavery.

But weeks after appearing to reach an agreement with Seattle-based blues singer Anita White, who has been using the same name for more than a decade, the country group announced on Wednesday it is suing her. .

"Today we are sad to share that our sincere hope to join together with Anita White in unity and common purpose has ended," the band members of Lady A said in a statement to CBS News.

"She and her team have demanded a $10 million payment, so reluctantly we have come to the conclusion that we need to ask a court to affirm our right to continue to use the name Lady A, a trademark we have held for many years.".

The band has been using the name Lady A, along with their original band name Lady Antebellum, since 2006-2007, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit does note that White has identified as Lady A since 2010 and that she also features her music on a Spotify artist page.

On June 15, White posted a photo of a Zoom call between her and the band on her Instagram page, saying "transparent, honest, and authentic conversations were had." .

The next day, White told Newsday that she received a draft agreement from the band's attorneys, and that she was "not happy about [it]." 

The band said in a statement that when they realized White had already been performing under the name Lady A, they had "heartfelt discussions with her about how we can all come together and make something special and beautiful out of this moment."

Their publicist, Tyne Parrish, told CBS News at the time that the artists agreed they could both continue to use Lady A. 

"We never even entertained the idea that she shouldn't also be able to use the name Lady A, and never will – today's action doesn't change that

...We felt we had been brought together for a reason and saw this as living out the calling that brought us to make this change in the first place," the band said in the lawsuit.