"Adalida" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait has sold over 120 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He holds ...

. It was released in March 1995 as the third single from his album ''

Lead On ''Lead On'' is the fifteenth studio album by American country music artist George Strait. The album was released on November 8, 1994 by MCA Nashville and was certified platinum in the U.S. for sales of one million copies. It includes the singl ...

''. It peaked at number 3 in the United States, and number 2 in Canada. It was written by Mike Geiger, Woody Mullis and Michael Huffman.

Content

The song is an uptempo, in which the narrator refers to a "Cajun queen" named Adalida. It was inspired by a young lady George Strait met in his hometown, named Ida. He was about to sing at the strawberry festival in Poteet, when he ran into her.

Cover versions

Country music band

Sugarland Sugarland is an American country music duo founded in Atlanta, Georgia. The duo consists of singer-songwriters Jennifer Nettles (lead vocals) and Kristian Bush (vocals, guitar, mandolin). They were founded in 2002, when Kristen Hall (vocals, gu ...

covered the song from the television special George Strait: ACM Artist of the Decade All Star Concert.

Tim Armstrong Timothy Ross Armstrong (born November 25, 1965) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. Known for his distinctive voice, he is the singer/guitarist for the punk rock band Rancid (band), Rancid and hip hop/punk rock supergroup T ...

from the band Rancid, covered the song in 2012 with his side project

Tim Timebomb Tim Timebomb is a music project by Tim Armstrong, best known as a member of the punk rock band Rancid. Armstrong has recorded a large number of songs – a mixture of cover versions, including Rancid covers, and original songs, including some tra ...

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price, of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine reviewed the song favorably, calling it a "zydeco-spiced single", and that in the hands of a lesser singer, "a song like this would have been difficult to stretch."

Alanna Nash Alanna Kay Nash (born August 16, 1950) is an American journalist and biographer. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Nash holds a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and is the author of several acclaimed books. S ...

of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' was less favorable, saying that it "fails to challenge him in even the slightest way".

Chart positions

"Adalida" debuted at number 72 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of March 25, 1995.

Year-end charts

Cover Versions

* In October 2012,

recorded a version as a part of his

and Friends project

References

{{authority control 1994 songs 1995 singles George Strait songs Song recordings produced by Tony Brown (record producer) Songs written by Mike Geiger Songs written by Woody Mullis MCA Records singles