Lady A On Name Change: 'We Realized Unanimously This Word Is Offensive'

Lady A have reflected on their former moniker, Lady Antebellum.

While appearing on PEOPLE (the TV Show!), Charles Kelley, 40, Hillary Scott, 35, and Dave Haywood, 39, revealed that they decided to alter their stage name as a means of being more "inclusive to all." The group announced in June 2020 that they would be nixing "Antebellum" from their name after its ties to owners of enslaved people and the Confederate South. "The murder of George Floyd brought so much of it to our attention and just talking to our friends, we knew through history class what the word antebellum meant, but understanding what it implied, what it made people feel — we had never asked," Scott told PEOPLE's senior correspondent Jeremy Parsons. "And so when we did, we realized unanimously that this word is offensive."

Kelley chimed in on the reception that the collective started to receive, saying, “After a while, when you start hearing some of these comments, you're like, 'Whoa, I don't want people to think that about us.'"

During the initial announcement, the group acknowledged "blindspots [they] didn't even know existed." "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," they said.

Coincidentally, the change in name prompted a legal battle with a Seattle-based African American act who also used the moniker, Lady A, otherwise known as Anita White. They two ended up turning to the legal system to fight out the case and a trial will begin in Tennessee if they have not settled by 2022.