American country music group, that is composed of Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley, and Dave Haywood, Lady Antebellum dropped ‘Antebellum’ from name to be solidarity with the Black community.
As known, the term “antebellum era” refers to heavy slavery actions in the 18th century.
The numerous award-winning group announced this news by pointing out that they took this action to remove the association with slavery:
“After much personal reflection, band discussion, prayer and many honest conversations with some of our closest Black friends and colleagues, we have decided to drop the word “antebellum” from our name and move forward as Lady A, the nickname our fans gave us almost from the start.”
Then the group continued by revealing how they had picked their name 14 years before now:
“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.(…) 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. We are deeply sorry for the hurt this has caused and for anyone who has felt unsafe, unseen or unvalued.”
On the other hand, the name changing caused some problems. It came up that the name ‘Lady A’ has already been used by a 61-year-old Black blues singer, Anita White.
So, it seems that the group will need to change their name again.
Besides, you can view the original Instagram post below, and read out the rest of the statement.
