Lady A the singer fights back against Lady A the band

Lady A the band used to be known as Lady Antebellum. They ditched the Antebellum, due to its positive representation of the South at a time when racial issues are boiling over in the U.S., and settled on Lady A. The band has been called that by its fans.

But very quickly, Lady A the singer surfaced, and she has performed and released albums for about two decades. The two sides met, and Lady A the band indicated that they were working towards an agreement.

That all blew up though on July 7 when Lady A the band asked 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 held a legal trademark on the name since 2010 without objection from anyone.

Lady A the singer sought $10 million from the band - $5 million to restart her career and the rest for charities of her choice including those supporting Black artists.

In a Billboard interview, the band said, " "We hope Anita and the advisers she is now listening to will change their minds about their approach. We can do so much more together than in this dispute."

The singer told Vulture in an interview, " "I think they always knew what they were gonna do," she said.

"You don't get to just come and take because you have that privilege," White says of the band and of the music industry as a whole. "We don't have that luxury or that privilege, so we need somebody to help us and lift us up."

Band and singer talked about recording together. Images of the two talking were posted online.

The singer said to Vulture, ""The first contract they sent [on June 30] had no substance," she explains. "It said that we would coexist and that they would use their best efforts to assist me on social-media platforms, Amazon, iTunes, all that. But what does that mean? I had suggested on the Zoom call that they go by the Band Lady A, or Lady A the Band, and I could be Lady A the Artist, but they didn't want to do that."

"I was quiet for two weeks because I was trying to believe that it was going to be okay and that they would realize that it would be easier to just change their name, or pay me for my name," White said. "Five million dollars is nothing, and I'm actually worth more than that, regardless of what they think. But here we go again with another white person trying to take something from a Black person, even though they say they're trying to help. If you want to be an advocate or an ally, you help those who you're oppressing. And that might require you to give up something because I am not going to be erased."