Barbara Lynn

Barbara Lynn (b. 1942) is a U.S. rhythm and blues and electric blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Born Barbara Lynn Ozen, later Barbara Lynn Cumby, on 16th January 1942 in Beaumont, Texas, she played piano as a child, but switched to guitar. Inspired by blues artists Guitar Slim and Jimmy Reed, and pop acts Elvis Presley and Brenda Lee, she created an all-female band, Bobbie Lynn and Her Idols.

Born Barbara Lynn Ozen, later Barbara Lynn Cumby, on 16th January 1942 in Beaumont, Texas, she played piano as a child, but switched to guitar. Inspired by blues artists Guitar Slim and Jimmy Reed, and pop acts Elvis Presley and Brenda Lee, she created an all-female band, Bobbie Lynn and Her Idols.

Singer Joe Barry introduced Lynn to producer Huey P Meaux who ran SugarHill Recording Studios and several record labels in Houston. Her first single, "You'll Lose a Good Thing", was a number-one U.S. Billboard R&B chart hit and top-ten Billboard Hot 100 hit in 1962, and was later a country hit record for Freddy Fender.

Soon Lynn was touring with such soul musicians as Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Dionne Warwick, Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, James Brown, Al Green, Carla Thomas, Marvin Gaye, Ike and Tina Turner, The Temptations, and B.B. King. She appeared at the Apollo Theater, twice on American Bandstand, and one of the songs she wrote, "Oh Baby (We've Got a Good Thing Goin')" (1964) was covered by The Rolling Stones on their album The Rolling Stones Now! (1965).

She married for the first time at the age of twenty-eight, and has three children. While living in Los Angeles Lynn occasionally appeared at local clubs before returning to Beaumont, Texas (where her mother lived) to live and resume her recording career after her husband's death. She continues to live in Beaumont.