Ida Guillory was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana on January 15, 1929. She grew
up in the Cajun/Creole communities of Southwest Louisiana and East Texas.
Although her lyrics are now bi-lingual, her first language was French and the
songs she learned from her brothers and uncles were French, too. In 1946 her
family moved to San Francisco. Ida eventually married, and put aside the
accordion to raise a family. In 1974, Ida teamed up with her brother Al
Lewis to perform for a special Mardi Gras Party. A front page article in the
San Francisco Chronicle's California Living magazine dubbed her
"Queen Ida" and she immediately got bookings in Bay area clubs and
at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Soon Queen Ida got offers to tour in Europe,
and after several successful trips abroad, America began to discover Queen Ida.
In the past 21 years, Queen Ida has completed eleven tours to Europe and toured
extensively in all regions of the U.S. and Canada. Queen Ida was a regular
guest on the Prairie Home Companion, and was recently featured on NBC's Good
Morning America, CBS Nightwatch, NPR's Weekend Edition, and the Attitudes and
Home Shows. Queen Ida was awarded the Grammy in 1983 and received her fourth
Grammy nomination in 1986. Highlights of recent touring were performances for
Native American French speaking groups in North Dakota funded by the North
Dakota Arts Commission, her eighteenth consecutive year at the Arvada Center,
and a sold-out benefit for the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra in Florida. In
1989, Queen Ida was invited by the U.S. State Department to tour for 3 weeks
in French-speaking Africa. She was greeted warmly by heads of state and
received rave reviews. Queen Ida's Cajun/Creole cookbook and memoirs,
"Cookin' with Queen Ida", was published in October, 1990. The
second edition features a new chapter on low-fat Cajun/Creole cooking. Her
tenth album, Together Again (a project with her brother, Al Rapone) is
being released during August of 1999.
Where is Queen Ida's official website?
Please email us!
Queen Ida's page at tradarts.com.
Visit also these related Sites:
Biographical Information on Queen Ida
Queen Ida biography by Sandra Brennan.
Biography by John Morrow and Kelly Winters.
Various Articles on Queen Ida
Article at cotatifest.com.
Queen Ida gets down on the bayou sound. Article by Ann Marie Swan.
Queen Ida's Chicken and Sausage Gumbo.
Reviews and Critiques of Queen Ida Live Performances and Recordings
Review at pbs.org.
Queen Ida Photos
Queen Ida photo and a short biography at grabow.biz.
Queen Ida Audio Files
Queen Ida - Zydeco. (Please click: Listen Now!) MP3 file, runtime 03:29.
Queen Ida - I-10 Express. RAM file, runtime 01:16.
Queen Ida Videos
Queen Ida and the Bon Temps Zydeco Band: Rosa Majeur. Runtime 03:02.
Queen Ida: Raywood. Runtime 03:28.
Queen Ida / ZYDECO. Runtime 03:43.
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