Queen Ida facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Queen Ida
Guillory in 2009
Background information
Birth name	Ida Lee Lewis
Born	(1929-01-15) January 15, 1929 (age 96) Lake Charles, Louisiana, U.S.
Genres	Zydeco
Occupation(s)	Accordionist, record producer
Instruments	Accordion
Years active	1975—2010
Labels	GNP Crescendo

Ida Lewis "Queen Ida" Guillory (born January 15, 1929) is a famous accordion player from Louisiana. She was the first woman to lead a zydeco band. Zydeco music is a lively style from Louisiana, often played with an accordion. Queen Ida's music mixes different sounds like R&B, Caribbean music, and Cajun music. But her accordion always keeps it sounding like traditional zydeco!

About Queen Ida's Life

Queen Ida & her Bon Temps Zydeco Band concert ticket, 1993

Ida Lee Lewis was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in a family of rice farmers. Her family were Louisiana Creole people, and her first language was French. When she was ten, her family moved to Beaumont, Texas. Eight years later, they moved to San Francisco, California.

Ida's mother played the accordion, but women were not usually encouraged to play music in public. So, Queen Ida mostly learned from her brother, Al Lewis. He later became known as Al Rapone.

After marrying Raymond Guillory, Ida raised their three children. She also worked as a bus driver. Sometimes, she would join her brother's Zydeco band on stage. She also cooked delicious Louisiana food for the band members!

She got the nickname "Queen Ida" after being chosen as the queen of a Mardi Gras celebration. Just one year after her first public performance, Queen Ida and her band, the Bon Temps Band, signed with a record company. Her first album, Play the Zydeco, showed off her unique style. It mixed Zydeco with a Tex-Mex sound.

Touring the World

Queen Ida and her band played at many big music events. They performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1976 and 1988. They also played at the San Francisco Blues Festival in 1975, 1978, and 1991.

In 1988, Queen Ida toured Japan. She was the first zydeco artist to ever perform there! The next year, she toured Africa. In 1990, she traveled to Australia and New Zealand.

Music and Family

On her 1999 album, Back on the Bayou, Queen Ida reunited with her brother, Al Rapone. They made zydeco music together in Louisiana. Al Rapone often wrote songs and helped produce her music. He also formed the Bon Temps Zydeco Band, which became Queen Ida's backup group.

Her oldest son, Myrick "Freeze" Guillory, also played accordion with her. Other band members included Terry Buddingh on bass, James Santiago on guitar, and Bernard Anderson on saxophone. Erik Nielsen played drums. Her youngest daughter, Ledra Guillory, and son, Ron "The Rock" Guillory, played the rub board and sang.

As "Queen Ida and the Bon Temps Zydeco Band," they were the musical guests on the TV show Saturday Night Live on November 23, 1985. The host that night was Paul Reubens.

Beyond Music

Queen Ida also helped write a cookbook called Cookin' with Queen Ida in 1990. It featured many delicious Creole recipes. A new version of the cookbook was released in 1995.

Queen Ida kept performing live through the 2000s. Even though she didn't release new albums then, she often joined her son Myrick and his band on stage. She officially stopped performing in 2010. Today, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and loves cooking for her friends and family.

One of her accordions is now on display at the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, Tennessee. This museum opened in January 2021.

Queen Ida's Albums

Queen Ida released many albums during her career. Here are some of them:

Awards and Honors

Queen Ida has received many important awards for her music.

In 2009, she received a National Heritage Fellowship. This is a very special award from the United States government. It is the highest honor given in folk and traditional arts.

Grammy Awards

Queen Ida won one Grammy Award and was nominated for four!

Blues Music Awards

She won two Blues Music Awards and was nominated for four!

See also

In Spanish: Queen Ida para niños