February 22, 2018 04:05 PM
Updated 7 minutes ago
The name Barbara Ann Alston may not ring a bell for younger generations, but she was among the most influential singers in rock and roll music in the ‘60s, according to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Alston – who died Feb. 16 in Charlotte at age 74 – was the lead singer for Phil Spector’s girl group The Crystals, which had a string of hits including “Da Doo Ron Ron” and “Then He Kissed Me.”
Her death is to be counted as part of the nation’s ongoing flu epidemic, family members said. Alston had been in intensive care at a Charlotte hospital for more than two weeks when she became one of 200 North Carolinians to die from the flu this season.
Ray Arthur