Lady Antebellum Changes Their Name, Apologizes for Making Anyone Feel 'Unsafe'

AP featured image — Dave Haywood, from left, Hillary Scott, and Charles Kelley, of Lady Antebellum, arrive at the 53rd annual Academy of Country Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday, April 15, 2018, in Las Vegas. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

The world is changing quickly, and the future is unsure. But if “country” music avoids being banned over the term’s link to ideas of untoward nationalism, radio stations will no longer be playing music by hit group Lady Antebellum.

Listeners will now be served a set of songs by someone known as “Lady A.”

This week, the Grammy-winning trio announced it will change its name due to — in the words of Good Housekeeping — its “complicity.”

Wait — isn’t Good Housekeeping in need of a name change?

Regardless, the band issued a letter to fans making known their regret for not fixing things sooner.

Here’s a bit of what the Lady had to say:

“[O]ur hearts have been stirred with conviction, our eyes opened wide to the injustices, inequality and biases black women and men have always faced and continue to face every day. … 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… 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. Causing pain was never our hearts’ intention, but it doesn’t change the fact that indeed, it did just that.”

Lady A also noted that many may wonder why it took them so long…

“[W]e can make no excuse for our lateness to this realization. What we can do is acknowledge it, turn from it and take action. … We will continue to educate ourselves, have hard conversations, and search the parts of our hearts that need pruning…”

The band also said they’ll be making a donation to the Equal Justice Initiative, which — according to the organization’s website — is “committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.”

Moreover, Lady A wants to “be better allies to those suffering from spoken and unspoken injustices…”

Dear fans… pic.twitter.com/7JlcH2NMl6

— Lady A (@ladya) June 11, 2020

Some on social media seemed opposed to the more modern moniker:

Your move, @dixiechicks #WeHaveLostOurDamnMinds

— John Ziegler (@Zigmanfreud) June 11, 2020

Yes, we have. I just saw a new compass. Only 3 directions, North, East, West. They are eliminating the South in order to be sensitive.

— Dr. Bernard Bubanic (@DrBubanic) June 11, 2020

I was excited to go to your show this year and now you’ve lost a fan for life. Groveling to the BLM mob for a freakin non-offensive word. You guys are sick.

— DeAnna Lorraine (@DeAnna4Congress) June 11, 2020

The pandering is nauseating at this point. I feel sad but my principles come first. The cancel culture must not be fed.

— 𝕊𝕜𝕪 (@SKYRIDER4538) June 11, 2020

Gonna need you to take “lady” out of your name too.

As a woman, I feel attacked and vilified. It’s also not inclusive of transgender people. Or non-binary people.

Please be more considerate, bigots.

— Sydney Watson (@SydneyLWatson) June 11, 2020

So stupid and for nothing.

— MemphisFromZero (@MemphisFromZero) June 11, 2020

Wow because you are really targeting your audience there. Way to go
You’ve managed to be politically correct and kneel to your masters there. Now you can do gay clubs like the Dixie Chicks.

— Carrie America (@carrieksada) June 11, 2020

Now I guess Dixie Chicks, Alabama, Florida Georgia line, Baton Rouge should all change their “southern” band names too? Congrats on your new name.

— Jackamo52 (@jackamo52) June 11, 2020

This just in, Lady Antebellum is now changing their name to “Non-Binary Person A” because they also realized that their name was offensive to anyone who is not male or female.

— DeAnna Lorraine (@DeAnna4Congress) June 11, 2020

This is getting more and more ridiculous by the hour.

— Andrew Brown (@AndrewB66636244) June 11, 2020

So now we’re all suddenly offended by an ADJECTIVE?? My God people come aawwnn

— EmmmArrrEmmm (@EmmmArrrEmmm) June 11, 2020

You guys are the “Karens” of country music….

— Graham Allen (@GrahamAllen_1) June 11, 2020

At least two users explained what the word means:

“Ante” means “before”

“bellum” means “wartime”

Antebellum means “the time before the war”. It specifically describes the period prior to the Civil War, a war fought by southerners to continue to be able to own slaves.

However good their music is, it was never a good title.

— Mikey (Hates Veggies AND Fascists) Alexander (@mikeyhatesit) June 11, 2020

Why in the hell would you have cringed at Antebellum? That makes absolutely no sense. It means “before the war” and comes from the latin ante bellum. It wasn’t even associated with the Civil War or ANYTHING to do with slavery until much later on and had been used for centuries.

— Army WO Pilot (@Army_WO_Pilot) June 11, 2020

And there was this:

This is ludicrous.

— Comfortably ¯_(ツ)_/¯ (@Eyeroll_Shrugs) June 11, 2020

No, THIS is Ludacris. pic.twitter.com/zQ7TrrL7VJ

— Medium Historian At Large (@one0nine) June 11, 2020

Lastly, one user posed an interesting question:

what does the a stand for

— g (@stopitg) June 11, 2020

Now that Lady Antebellum’s gone the way of the dodo bird, surely Queens of the Stone Age will follow — if the period just before the Civil War was rough, I can only imagine how unwoke cavepeople were.

And while America’s musical lexicon is getting a millennial makeover, we might wanna rename Dire Straits, which could make people feel insecure, and KISS, which may conjure thoughts of sexual harassment.

As for the members of Lady Antebellum, they have the right to call themselves whatever they wish. And if they like “Lady A” better, more power to them.

What do you think of the change? Is it an improvement?

Either way, I think we can ALL agree on one band’s desperate need to nix their name: