Artistic excellence, lifetime achievement, and contributions to our nation’s traditional arts heritage—these are the criteria for receiving a National Endowment for the Arts’ National Heritage Fellowship. Extraordinary guitarist, singer, and songwriter Barbara Lynn has earned her place among National Heritage Fellowship honorees and within the rich musical legacy of the Gulf Coast.

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Growing up in her hometown of Beaumont, Texas, Barbara Lynn Ozen switched from piano to guitar after seeing Elvis Presley on television. She taught herself to play left-handed by practicing along with songs on the radio and eventually formed an all-girl band, Barbara Lynn and The Idols, while still in school. Her talent show victories led to invitations to perform with other bands, club dates, and eventually a recording opportunity that resulted in the release of her breakout single, “You’ll Lose a Good Thing,” in May 1962.

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That song launched Barbara Lynn to national stardom. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart and climbed into the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. “You’ll Lose a Good Thing” has since been recorded by artists ranging from Aretha Franklin to Freddy Fender and Lucinda Williams.

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Lynn went on to tour with Chuck Berry, Stevie Wonder, Bo Diddley, Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson, Dionne Warwick, Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, James Brown, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Ike and Tina Turner, The Temptations, and B.B. King. The Jackson 5, before they became superstars, once opened for her in Chicago. She appeared twice on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, and The Rolling Stones personally contacted her to request—and receive—permission to record her song “Oh Baby (We Got a Good Thing Goin’).” Over the course of her career, Lynn estimates she has written nearly 30 songs.

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In addition to receiving the National Heritage Fellowship, Lynn earned the Rhythm and Blues Foundation’s 1999 Pioneer Award and received a Star of Texas Folklife Award in 2010.