Lady A Cover Clint Black & Wynonna’s 1993 Duet “A Bad Goodbye” For ACM Honors

Clint Black was among the stars recognized during the 2023 ACM Honors that aired Monday (September 18).

The show was pre-recorded in late August at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium and featured a performance from Lady A who paid tribute to Clint Black who was a recipient of the ACM Poet’s Award. The trio sang a cover of “A Bad Goodbye,” Clint’s 1993 duet with Wynonna.

Lady A’s Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott traded lead as they sang the haunting duet written by Black. Members of the audience were seen wiping away tears as they sang.

When it came time for Clint Black to accept his award, he delivered what was arguably the best acceptance speech of the night. He started out by saying that he would like to say that he is humbled to receive the award, then joked that it wasn’t true at all and said he was going to think much more of himself after winning.

“Francis Scott Key wrote ‘The National Anthem’ and was never given this award, Edgar Allan Poe, (John) Keats, never got an ACM Poets Award, okay? I just want to thank the ACM for putting them all in their places by omission and honoring me instead,” Black joked.

 

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He concluded by saying, “In order to live with myself, I have to discount that by at least 40 percent to see that my cowboy hat will still fit my head,” he said with a laugh. “This honor tonight has pushed me in that direction, but I will come back down to Earth maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day, but after all too soon, after this honor, I’ll have to ask myself a question, ‘What have I written lately?’ And I pray you all will stay tuned to hear the answer.”

Story Behind “A Bad Goodbye”

Clint Black wrote “A Bad Goodbye” after touring with Wynonna in 1993 on their “Black and Wy” tour. The song was released as the lead single from Clint’s No Time to Kill album the same year. It peaked at just behind Alan Jackson’s “Chattahoochee” on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. The collab earned the pair a nomination for ACM’s Vocal Event of the Year.

Watch Lady A sing “A Bad Goodbye” in the video below.