BEAUMONT, Texas — Beaumont native Barbara Lynn, 84, was inducted into the Blues Foundation’s Blues Hall of Fame Wednesday night in Memphis, cementing her place among the genre’s all-time greats more than six decades after her first No. 1 hit.
Lynn is one of six musicians being honored at tonight’s ceremony. Born Barbara Lynn Ozen on Jan. 16, 1942, in Beaumont, she taught herself to play guitar left-handed after watching Elvis Presley on television as a child, practicing along with songs on the radio, according to the Museum of the Gulf Coast’s Music Hall of Fame. She eventually formed an all-girl band, Barbara Lynn and The Idols, while still in school.
Her big break came in May 1962 with the release of “You’ll Lose a Good Thing,” which hit No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart and climbed into the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, according to the museum. The song has since been recorded by artists including Aretha Franklin, Freddy Fender, and Lucinda Williams…