It’s hard to do a “quick” feature about such a legend as blues singer Toni Lynn Washington. She started singing as a child in her North Carolina church and by the time her family moved to Boston when Toni Lynn was in her teens, she was sneaking into clubs (she was underage)and bringing the house down. Her career has spanned seven decades and taken her from Boston to New Orleans to Hollywood and back to Boston.

THEN: When she moved back to Boston she initially took a break from performing, but she couldn’t stay off the stage long. She joined up with the Boston Baked Blues before starting her own group with the help of local musician and keyboardist Bruce Bears. Toni Lynn gathered together a group of local musicians, found her own sound, and wowed the world. Dave Jamrog, a drummer who played with her in the 2000s says “Toni Lynn is the best jazz/blues/funky soul/R&B vocalist and musician I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing and working with”. He is not alone in praising her talent. Toni Lynn made four records from 1995-2003, toured the world, was nominated 7 times for a Blues Music Award, received the Boston Blues Festival Lifetime achievement award, and was named "Soul-Blues Female Performer of the Year" three years in a row from 2003-2005. She was performing up until the pandemic struck, at festivals, clubs, and theaters across New England.

NOW: COVID-19 has had an outsized impact on Black women, and as a Black woman in her 80s Toni Lynn Washington was especially high risk. Add to that the fact that all the festivals were cancelled, the clubs shuttered, and the theaters dark. And on top of it all, scientists quickly identified COVID respiratory droplets as the main source of spread, so singing in public was off the table. After 70 years performing, everything came to a crashing halt. It was devastating and scary.

Thanks to her albums and features on the local Blues and Soul radio shows, including True Blues with Greg Sarni on WBRS, audiences have continued to soak up her voice during the shutdown. But it’s not the same as hearing or performing music live.

From her 2003 album, Been So Long

HOPE: With vaccines out, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Recently Toni Lynn was able to get back on stage at the Taylor Community’s Monday Night Blues. Mask tucked under her chin and the audience spaced safely apart, she brought the crowd to their feet and sang on through two encores. Toni Lynn looks forward to the opening of venues and festivals, and can’t wait to get back on stage to make music with her colleagues and friends.

Toni Lynn Washington

Heidi Braun-Hill

Nicholas Brown