Lady A (singer) facts for kids

Anita White (born July 18, 1958), known professionally as Lady A, is an American singer. She sings blues, soul, funk, and gospel music.

Lady A's Music Journey

Anita White was born and grew up in Seattle, Washington. She started singing at age five with her family, who were also musicians. Her professional singing career began in the 1980s. She first sang as a backup vocalist in a band that played Motown songs.

Later, she was part of a group called Lady A & the Baby Blues Funk band for 18 years. After that, she started her solo career. She toured in the Pacific Northwest and Mississippi Delta areas. Since 2010, she has released five solo albums.

Lady A also runs her own company, Lady A Productions. This company helps gospel and blues artists. In 2020, she started hosting two music shows online for NWCZ Radio. These shows are called "Gumbo & Gospel" and "Black N Blues (the B side)". Her songs often talk about important social issues.

The Name Conflict

In June 2020, during the George Floyd protests, a pop country music group called Lady Antebellum decided to change their name. They shortened it to "Lady A". They did this to avoid any connection to the "Antebellum South," which reminds people of the Civil War and slavery.

However, the very next day, news spread that the name "Lady A" was already being used. Anita White had been using it for more than 20 years. The band members said they did not know anyone else was using the name. Anita White called this "pure privilege". She felt they were using a serious moment to change their name without thinking about others. She said they were "using the name because of a Black Lives Matter incident that, for them, is just a moment in time."

The band members contacted Anita White the next week. They apologized for using her name without checking. They said the Black Lives Matter movement made them want to work together. But they also said they still planned to use the name "Lady A". Anita White was worried that both artists using the same name would hurt her career.

At first, she was hopeful and forgiving. She said, "We talked about attempting to co-exist." But she also said they did not discuss what that would actually look like. She felt the band did not directly answer her questions about sharing the name. When she saw their contract draft, she was shocked. She said, "Their camp is trying to erase me... and I no longer trust them."

She then sent her own offer. She suggested that the band either change their name again, or she would change her name for a large fee. This fee would include money for Seattle charities, a fund for independent artists, and Black Lives Matter.

On July 8, 2020, the band filed a lawsuit against Anita White. They did not accept her offer. They said they had the right to their own long-standing trademark of the name. The band stated, "Today we are sad to share that our sincere hope to join together with Anita White in unity and common purpose has ended."

On September 15, 2020, Anita White filed her own lawsuit against the band. She said she had the right to the "Lady A" trademark under common law. She also said that two artists could not use the same name in the same music industry. She asked for money for lost sales and for her brand being weakened. She also asked for a share of any money the band made using the "Lady A" name.

This disagreement also affected other musicians. In October 2021, a folk musician named Lilli Lewis released her album, "Americana." Lilli Lewis and Anita White had connected through an online group for Black female artists. They even recorded a song together called "A Healing Inside." This song was on Lewis's album, and Anita White was credited as "Lady A."

Soon after the album came out, it was removed from Spotify, a music streaming service. It is not clear why this happened. It might have been Spotify's computer system thinking the wrong "Lady A" was credited. Or it could have been because of the legal fight between the two artists. This showed how the name conflict was causing problems. The album was put back on Spotify on November 15, 2021.

By February 2022, Anita White and the band had settled their lawsuit. They asked a judge in a federal court in Tennessee to dismiss the case. The details of their agreement were not made public.

Lady A's Albums and Songs

Lady A has released seven solo albums and two singles.

Albums

• BlueZ in the Key of Me (2010)
• How Did I Get Here (2013)
• Doin' Fine (2018)
• Lady A: Live in New Orleans (2020)
• Satisfyin (2021)
• Just Bein' Me (2023)

Singles

• "The Truth is Loud" (2019)
• "My Name is All I Got" (2020)