The Blues Hall of Fame Museum

(Memphis TN) – The Blues Foundation has announced the winners at the 47th Annual Blues Music Awards that took place on May 7 in Memphis, TN. Congratulations to all this year's [...]

2026 Blues Music Awards Week Events Schedule

BMA Week Events Wednesday, May 6, 2026 2:00pm - 3:30pm Booking Signing at The Hall of Fame featuring Joseph Rosen's new book "Inside the Moment" 5:30pm - 8pm (Doors open at 5pm) Blues [...]

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Blues Hall of Fame

2026 Inductees

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Marcia Ball

Induction into the Blues Hall of Fame is only the latest in a series of honors bestowed upon Marcia Ball, already a member of the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame, Museum of the Gulf Coast Music Hall of Fame, and Louisiana Music Hall of Fame as well as recipient of the Darrell K. Royal Texas Music Legend Award and designee as 2018 Official Texas State Musician. Hailed as “Gulf Coast Rhythm And Blues Musical Goddess” by Forbes magazine in 2019, Ball has also won numerous Blues Music Awards and blues readers’ polls and garnered several Grammy nominations.
Barbara Lynn

Barbara Lynn burst on the national scene as a 20-year-old ingenue in 1962 when her self-penned R&B ballad “You’ll Lose a Good Thing” peaked on Billboard magazine’s charts as No. 1 in R&B and No. 8 in pop. The rival Cash Box charts ranked it No. 2 R&B and No. 4 pop. Although it was her warm, appealing vocal style that was spotlighted on this and several subsequent hits, her act had another dimension that she could feature in her live performances—her talent as a left-handed electric guitarist. That gift, which helped win her a following among blues fans over the years, was exciting enough for her to be featured on an instrumental workout standing side by side with guitar virtuoso Gatemouth Brown on the syndicated TV program The !!!! Beat! In 1966.
Rosco Gordon

Rosco Gordon was a hitmaking blues headliner early in his career but retreated from public view to run a business and raise a family, only to re-emerge when he learned his historic early records had attracted a new generation of fans. Gordon’s hits, most notably “Booted,” “No More Doggin’,” and “Just a Little Bit,” made the Billboard charts sporadically from 1951 to 1960. He also influenced ska and reggae music when Jamaican musicians picked up the distinctive rhythm of his piano playing.
Henry 'Ragtime Texas' Thomas

Henry “Ragtime Texas” Thomas was one of the first generation of Black songsters and blues performers to record, already in his fifties when he first went into the studio for the Vocalion label in 1927. His 1927-1929 recorded repertoire of 23 songs largely predated the blues and included reels, ballads, rags, spirituals, waltzes and minstrel songs, performed as dance music set to his rhythmic guitar picking and strumming and the unique melodies he played on pan-pipes made from cane.
Bob Margolin

Bob “Steady Rollin’” Margolin established instant credentials in the blues world when he joined the Muddy Waters band in 1973 and continued to build an impressive resume in the nearly seven years he toured with Muddy and afterwards. Margolin has won Blues Music Awards in three different categories: Acoustic Blues Album, Traditional Blues Male Artist and Blues Instrumentalist—Guitar.
Kenny Neal

Kenny Neal was born into the blues as the eldest son of veteran Baton Rouge harmonica player Raful Neal, and not only has he proudly carried the tradition on, but he also has ensured its legacy by surrounding himself with siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins and children who play or sing with him or perform on their own. With eight of the family participating, Neal’s aptly titled Bloodline album took top honors in the 2017 Blues Music Awards, one of five BMA wins Neal has notched. He is the only blues artist to have won awards as a musician, an actor and a TV host.