B.B. King

**B.B. King**  (born **Riley B. King**; September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015) was an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. *Rolling Stone* magazine said that King was the third "Greatest Guitarist of All Time" in 2003.

## Early life
He was born in Indianola, Mississippi. His father left the family and his mother was too poor to raise him, and so he came to his grandmother, Elnora Farr, in Kilmichael, Mississippi. There he sang in the gospel choir at Elkhorn Baptist Church. At the age of 15 he bought his first guitar. His idols were T-Bone Walker, but also jazz musicians like Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt. 1943 he left the town and worked as a tractor driver. He performed on Sonny Boy Williamson's radio program on KWEM in West Memphis, Arkansas and reached a local audience with his sound. For this reason he got appearances in the Sixteenth Avenue Grill in West Memphis and later, a ten-minute spot on the Memphis radio station WDIA. This became so popular that it was expanded and became the "Sepia Swing Club." During his work for the radio station he got his nickname "Beale Street Blues Boy" which was later shortened to B.B.

## Career
In 1949, King began recording songs for RPM Records from Los Angeles. King formed his own band; the B.B. King Review, under the leadership of Millard Lee and went on tours.

In winter 1949 he played at a dance hall in Twist, Arkansas. The hall was heated by burning barrels filled with kerosene. During his performance two men started a fight knocking over one of them and the hall was burning. Outside he learned that he had left his guitar and he ran inside to get it. Next day he found out that the fight was started over a woman named Lucille. Since that time he named the guitar "Lucille."

In the 1950s, B.B. King became one of the most important blues musicians. He toured regularly. In 1956 he gave 352 concerts. Among his hits were "3 O'Clock Blues", On May 30, 2015, King's funeral was held at the Bell Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Indianola, Mississippi.  He was buried at the museum.

## TV and Film
B.B. King has made guest appearances in numerous popular television shows, including The Cosby Show, The Young and the Restless, General Hospital, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Sesame Street, Married... with Children, Sanford and Son, and Touched by an Angel. He has also made a cameo in the movie Spies Like Us. In the movie Blues Brothers 2000 he was the leader of The Louisiana Gator Boys, a blues supergroup, which battles against the Blues Brothers.

## B.B. King’s Blues Club
He is the owner of a chain of restaurants with concert venues in the United States. The first was opened on Beale Street in Memphis 1991.

## Honors and awards
* In 1980, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
* In 1987, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
* In 1990, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.
* In 1991, he was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship from the NEA.
* King was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors in 1995. This is given to recognize "the lifelong accomplishments and extraordinary talents of our nation's most prestigious artists."
* In 2004, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music awarded him the Polar Music Prize for his "significant contributions to the blues".
* On December 15, 2006, President George W. Bush awarded King the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
* On May 27, 2007, King was awarded an honorary doctorate in music by Brown University.
* On May 14, 2008, King was presented with the keys to the city of Utica, New York; and on May 18, 2008, the mayor of Portland, Maine, Edward Suslovic, declared the day "B.B. King Day" in the city. Prior to King's performance at the Merrill Auditorium, Suslovic presented King with the keys to the city.
* In 2009, *Time* named B.B. King #3 on its list of the 10 best electric guitarists of all time.
* Each year during the first week in June, a B.B. King Homecoming Festival is held in Indianola, Mississippi.
* A Mississippi Blues Trail marker was added for B.B. King, commemorating his birthplace.
* On May 29, 2010, Sabrosa Park (at the small town of Sabrosa, north of Portugal) was renamed B.B. King Park in honor of King and the free concert he played before 20,000 people.
* One category of the Blues Music Award of the Blues Music Foundation is called "B.B. King Entertainer of the Year "

### Grammy Awards
King was given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987. As of 2009, he has won 15 Grammy Awards, of which ten have been the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album :in 2009 (for One Kind Favor), 2005 (B. B. King & Friends: 80), 2003 (for A Christmas Celebration of Hope), 2001 (for Riding with the King), 2000 (for Blues on the Bayou), 1994 (for Blues Summit), 1992 (for Live at the Apollo), 1991 (for Live at San Quentin), 1986 (for My Guitar Sings the Blues) and 1984 (for Blues 'N' Jazz).

## Discography
**Some important albums are:**
*Live at the Regal (1965)
*Blues Summit (1993) duets with Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Koko Taylor, Etta James, Lowell Fulson, Albert Collins, Ruth Brown, Irma Thomas, Joe Louis Walker
*Let The Good Times Roll-The Music of Louis Jordan (1999)
*Riding with the King (2001) with Eric Clapton
**On DVD:**
*B.B. King & Joan Baez - Live at "Sing Sing" (2004)
* Living Legend (2004)
* Black Blues Experience (2004)
* Sweet 16 (2004)
* The Blues Sounds of B.B. King (2004)
* In Concert (2003)
* Live By Request (2003)
* Live at Nicks (2002)
* Live at Montreux 1993 (?)
For a complete discographie visit MusicBrainz.

## Filmography 
* *Yakety Yak, Take it Back* (1991) ... Himself
* *Trash Talk* (1992) ... Himself

## References 
## Other websites 
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* B.B. King interview on Guitar.com 
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