"A Bad Goodbye" is the title of a song written by American country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 artist Clint Black

Clint Black

Clint Patrick Black is an American country music singer-songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and occasional actor. Signed to RCA Records in 1989, Black made his debut with his Killin' Time album, which produced four straight Number One singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country...

 and recorded Black and Wynonna

Wynonna Judd

Wynonna Ellen Judd is an American country music singer. Her solo albums and singles are all credited to the singular name Wynonna. Wynonna first rose to fame in the 1980s alongside her mother, Naomi, in the country music duo The Judds...

. The song was recorded after the two toured together during their "Black and Wy" tour in 1993. Serving as the lead-off single to Black's 1993 album, No Time to Kill

No Time to Kill

No Time to Kill is a 1993 album by country singer-songwriter Clint Black. The title is a play on the title of his debut album, Killin' Time....

, it peaked at #2 on the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

) chart. In addition, it was Black's first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

, peaking at #43 there.

The song was also nominated for Vocal Event of the Year at the 1993 Academy of Country Music

Academy of Country Music

The Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...

 awards.

Critical reception

In his review of Black's album, Time

Time (magazine)

Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...

magazine reviewer Christopher John Farley noted that Judd's voice "draws out an emotional edge" in Black's voice. Overall, he thought that the collaboration added an edge to No Time to Kill that Black's first three albums lacked. Deborah Evans Price, of Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

magazine reviewed the song favorably, calling the lyrics "direct, moving and majestic." She goes on to say that the song has "'single of the year' written all over it."

The song followed a "Black & Wy" tour, which featured Judd and Black touring together.

Chart positions

"A Bad Goodbye" debuted at number 55 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of May 15, 1993.

Chart (1993)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks	2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	43
Canadian RPM Country Singles	1