Lady A star Charles Kelley has revealed the country band changed their name to do their bit as part of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The group was formerly known as Lady Antebellum but announced their decision to adopt a new moniker back in June, explaining that they wanted to distance themselves from the term “Antebellum”, which has ties to the slave-owners of the Confederate South.
However, their decision angered blues singer Anita White, who already performed as Lady A, and led to a number of angry lawsuits.
Appearing on The Tamron Hall Show on Monday, Charles and bandmates Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood opened up about why they’d waited so long to change their name, as Charles explained it was the Black Lives Matter movement gaining traction earlier this year that prompted them to take the plunge.
“I think the word to me that resonates the most this year has been ‘blind spot.’ And I think I am so guilty of…I didn’t think about it,” he mused.
“You know, we came up with the name thinking about the antebellum home…I don’t know. It’s so naive now looking back, but I think, as we’ve grown up, we all have kids now,” he went on.
Pondering: “I mean, why now?” the musician reflected: “Well, we’re a lot older, we look at the world a lot different. We’re trying to leave the world a little bit better, too, for our kids and the next generation. And we want to be a part of change.”
Referring to the lawsuits, he added: “We’re trying to resolve this issue with Anita and we’re really trying to be a light out there for everybody. And we know it’s going to be tough, it’s a very divisive issue, but it shouldn’t be a divisive issue, it’s just about love.”
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