B.B. King - Guitarist, Songwriter, Singer - Biography.com READ MORE: Blues Legend B.B. King Dies at 89 King made his first recording in 1949, and the next year began a 12-year-long association with Kent/RPM/Modern, for which he recorded a string of rhythm and blues hits, including "You Know I Love You," "Woke Up This Morning" and "Three O'Clock Blues," which reached No. 1 on the R&B charts and became his first national hit. He also toured the nightclub circuit continuously, averaging more than 300 shows annually for over 30 years. His style of music earned him the title "King of the Blues." Famed Guitar 'Lucille' Coincidentally, the year that King made his first recording was also the same year that he named his beloved guitar. King attended a dance in Twist, Arkansas, that had a barrel lit with kerosene in the middle of the dance floor, used to keep the crowd warm late at night. While there, a fight broke out and the barrel was knocked over, causing a fire to spread throughout the venue.

Everyone evacuated, including King, but he rushed back inside to retrieve his prized guitar. Luckily, he managed to escape with his guitar as the building collapsed around him. King later learned that the fight erupted because of a woman who worked at the venue named Lucille. From then on, King named his guitar "Lucille" to remind himself never to do anything so foolish again. Hit 'The Thrill Is Gone' In 1962, King signed with ABC Records, which released Live at the Regal (1965), a benchmark blues concert album. In 1969, he released his biggest hit single, "The Thrill is Gone." The first bluesman to tour the Soviet Union in 1979, by this time he had also become the first bluesman to enter the pop mainstream, making regular appearances in Las Vegas, Nevada and on network television. King also found commercial success with the many collaborations he made over the years, including with artists Eric Clapton , Elton John , Sheryl Crow , Van Morrison and Bonnie Raitt .

In 1987, King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Highly-Acclaimed Musical Artist One of music's best-regarded performers, King picked up the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album in 2006 for his duets album 80, having won the award multiple times over the decades. Later that year, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush . The legendary singer and guitarist also became the subject of his own museum, which opened its doors in 2008. The B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola, Mississippi, is dedicated to King's music, the music which influenced him, and the history of the delta area. Also in 2008, King released his album One Kind Favor to critical acclaim. He did his own take on songs by John Lee Hooker , T-Bone Walker and Lonnie Johnson , earning yet another Grammy Award for his efforts, marking his 15th win. In February 2012, King played a special gig at the White House with Buddy Guy and others. He and his fellow performers were accompanied by President Barack Obama on the song "Sweet Home Chicago.

Recent Years and Death King played more than 250 concerts per year well into his 70s. In his 80s, the number of tour dates the guitarist booked were more limited in number. His health had been deteriorating over the past few years. After a shaky concert in April 2014 at the Peabody Opera House in St. Louis, fans voiced their concern about King on social media saying he appeared to be suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. After that show, the blues legend issued a public apology for his erratic performance. In October 2014, the 89-year old fell onstage during a performance at Chicago’s House of Blues and cancelled several upcoming gigs. In a statement issued on his web site after the fall, it said the singer had been “diagnosed with dehydration and suffering from exhaustion.” But no matter where he was, King had his signature guitar "Lucille" in his hands. While in hospice care, B.B. King died in his sleep on May 14, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada, leaving behind an enduring musical legacy.

In the days following King’s death, his daughters Karen Williams and Patty King said they believed King's manager LaVerne Toney and personal assistant Myron Johnson had poisoned their father. "I believe my father was poisoned and that he was administered foreign substances to induce his premature death," the daughters said in identical affidavits. "I believe my father was murdered." A lawyer for B.B. King’s estate released a statement, saying: "The allegations are baseless and unfounded and are unsupported in reality. Ms. Toney did everything she could to carry out the wishes of Mr. King while he was alive, and continues to carry out Mr. King's wishes after his death." On May 27, 2015, thousands of fans lined Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee to watch a funeral procession in honor of the late blues legend, who was nicknamed the Beale Street Blues Boy. King will be buried in Indianola, Mississippi, his hometown, on May 30th. Related Videos Fact Check We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us ! Citation Information The thrill is gone: ‘King of the Blues’ B.B.

King dies at 89 | FOX31 Denver The thrill is gone: ‘King of the Blues’ B.B. King dies at 89 Posted 5:04 am, May 15, 2015, by CNN Wire Email This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. LAS VEGAS -- Riley B. King, the legendary guitarist known as B.B. King, whose velvety voice and staccato-picking style brought blues from the margins to the mainstream, died Thursday night. He was 89. His daughter, Patty King, said he died in Las Vegas, where he announced two weeks ago that he was in home hospice care after suffering from dehydration. King of the blues The Mississippi native's reign as "king of the blues" lasted more than six decades and straddled two centuries, influencing a generation of rock and blues musicians, from Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan, to Sheryl Crow and John Mayer. His life was the subject of the documentary "B.B. King: The Life of Riley," and the inspiration for the The B.B.

King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, which opened in 2008. King's enduring legacy came from his refusal to slow down even after cementing his status as an American music icon. Even with a long list of honors to his name -- Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, Presidential Medal of Freedom -- he maintained a relentless touring schedule well into his 80s. Throughout his career, King evolved with the times to incorporate contemporary trends and influences without straying from his Delta blues roots. Whether he was sharing the stage with U2 on "When Loves Comes to Town" -- a scene memorialized in the 1988 concert film, "Rattle and Hum" -- or playing in the East Room of the White House with Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger, Jeff Beck and others, King's single-string guitar notes trilled with an unmistakable vibrato from his hollow-bodied Gibson affectionately known as Lucille. Slowing down King finally started showing signs of his age last year after decades of living with Type II diabetes. A shaky show in St. Louis prompted his reps to issue an apology for "a performance that did not match Mr.

King's usual standard of excellence." He fell ill in October after a show at Chicago's House of Blues due to dehydration and exhaustion, prompting a rare cancellation of the remainder of his tour. He was hospitalized for dehydration April in Las Vegas, a long way from his modest roots as the son of a sharecropper. King was born Sept. 16, 1925, on a cotton plantation between Indianola and what is now Itta Bena, Miss. He sang with church choirs as a child and learned basic guitar chords from his uncle, a preacher. In his youth, he played on street corners for dimes, saying he earned more in one night singing on the corner than he did in one week working in the cotton field. Beale Street Blues Boy He enlisted in the Army during World War II but was released because he drove a tractor, an essential homefront occupation. In 1947, he hitchhiked to Memphis, Tenn., home to a thriving music scene that supported aspiring black performers. He stayed with his cousin Bukka White, one of the most celebrated blues performers of his time, who schooled King further in the art of the blues.

King took the Beale Street Blues Boy, or BB for short, as a disc jockey for radio station WDIA/AM Memphis. He got his first big break in 1948 by performing on Sonny Boy Williamson's radio program out of West Memphis, leading to steady engagements at the Sixteenth Avenue Grill in West Memphis, and a 10-minute spot on WDIA. As "King's Spot" grew in popularity on WDIA, King shortened "Beale Street Blues Boy" to "Blues Boy King," and eventually B.B. King. His ascent continued in 1949 with his first recordings, "Miss Martha King/Take a Swing with Me" and "How Do You Feel When Your Baby Packs Up and Goes/I've Got the Blues." His first hit record "Three O'clock Blues" was released in 1951 and stayed on the top of the charts for four months. Beloved Lucille It was during this era that King first named his beloved guitar Lucille. In the mid-1950s, King was performing at a dance in Twist, Ark., when a few fans became unruly and started a fire.

King ran out, forgetting his guitar, and risked his life to go back and get it. He later found out that two men fighting over a woman named Lucille knocked over a kerosene heater that started the fire. He named the guitar Lucille, "to remind myself never to do anything that foolish." King has used various models of Gibson guitars over the years and named them each Lucille. In the 1980s, Gibson officially dropped the model number ES-355 on the guitar King used and it became a custom-made signature model named Lucille, manufactured exclusively for the "King of the Blues." 30 Grammy nominations In 1970, he won his first Grammy, for Best R&B Vocal Performance Male for his trademark song, "The Thrill is Gone." That same year, he debuted an all-blues show at Carnegie Hall and appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show." Over the years, he racked up 30 Grammy nominations and 15 wins, including two in 2000: one along with Eric Clapton for Best Traditional Blues Album for "Riding with the King," and another with Dr.

John for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "Is You Is, or Is You Ain't (My Baby)." His last was in February 2009 for Best Traditional Blues Album for "One Kind Favor" (2008). 36.169941 -115.139830 The Thrill Is Gone: Blues legend B.B. King dies at age 89 | WTKR.com See complete forecast The Thrill Is Gone: Blues legend B.B. King dies at age 89 Posted 5:52 am, May 15, 2015, by Matt Knight and CNN Wire , Updated at 09:22AM, May 15, 2015 Email This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. (CNN) — Riley B. King, the legendary guitarist known as B.B. King, whose velvety voice and staccato-picking style brought blues from the margins to the mainstream, died Thursday night. He was 89.

His daughter, Patty King, said he died in Las Vegas, where he announced two weeks ago that he was in home hospice care after suffering from dehydration. King of the blues The Mississippi native’s reign as “king of the blues” lasted more than six decades and straddled two centuries, influencing a generation of rock and blues musicians, from Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan, to Sheryl Crow and John Mayer. His life was the subject of the documentary “B.B. King: The Life of Riley,” and the inspiration for the The B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, which opened in 2008. King’s enduring legacy came from his refusal to slow down even after cementing his status as an American music icon. Even with a long list of honors to his name — Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, Presidential Medal of Freedom — he maintained a relentless touring schedule well into his 80s. Throughout his career, King evolved with the times to incorporate contemporary trends and influences without straying from his Delta blues roots.

Whether he was sharing the stage with U2 on “When Loves Comes to Town” — a scene memorialized in the 1988 concert film, “Rattle and Hum” — or playing in the East Room of the White House with Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger, Jeff Beck and others, King’s single-string guitar notes trilled with an unmistakable vibrato from his hollow-bodied Gibson affectionately known as Lucille. Slowing down King finally started showing signs of his age last year after decades of living with Type II diabetes. A shaky show in St. Louis prompted his reps to issue an apology for “a performance that did not match Mr. King’s usual standard of excellence.” He fell ill in October after a show at Chicago’s House of Blues due to dehydration and exhaustion, prompting a rare cancellation of the remainder of his tour. He was hospitalized for dehydration April in Las Vegas, a long way from his modest roots as the son of a sharecropper. King was born on September 16, 1925, on a cotton plantation between Indianola and what is now Itta Bena, Mississippi. He sang with church choirs as a child and learned basic guitar chords from his uncle, a preacher.

In his youth, he played on street corners for dimes, saying he earned more in one night singing on the corner than he did in one week working in the cotton field. Beale Street Blues Boy He enlisted in the Army during World War II but was released because he drove a tractor, an essential homefront occupation. In 1947, he hitchhiked to Memphis, Tennessee, home to a thriving music scene that supported aspiring black performers. He stayed with his cousin Bukka White, one of the most celebrated blues performers of his time, who schooled King further in the art of the blues. King took the Beale Street Blues Boy, or BB for short, as a disc jockey for radio station WDIA/AM Memphis. He got his first big break in 1948 by performing on Sonny Boy Williamson’s radio program out of West Memphis, leading to steady engagements at the Sixteenth Avenue Grill in West Memphis, and a 10-minute spot on WDIA. As “King’s Spot” grew in popularity on WDIA, King shortened “Beale Street Blues Boy” to “Blues Boy King,” and eventually B.B. King.

His ascent continued in 1949 with his first recordings, “Miss Martha King/Take a Swing with Me” and “How Do You Feel When Your Baby Packs Up and Goes/I’ve Got the Blues.” His first hit record “Three O’clock Blues” was released in 1951 and stayed on the top of the charts for four months. Beloved Lucille It was during this era that King first named his beloved guitar Lucille. In the mid-1950s, King was performing at a dance in Twist, Arkansas, when a few fans became unruly and started a fire. King ran out, forgetting his guitar, and risked his life to go back and get it. He later found out that two men fighting over a woman named Lucille knocked over a kerosene heater that started the fire. He named the guitar Lucille, “to remind myself never to do anything that foolish.” King has used various models of Gibson guitars over the years and named them each Lucille.

In the 1980s, Gibson officially dropped the model number ES-355 on the guitar King used and it became a custom-made signature model named Lucille, manufactured exclusively for the “King of the Blues.” 30 Grammy nominations In 1970, he won his first Grammy, for Best R&B Vocal Performance Male for his trademark song, “The Thrill is Gone.” That same year, he debuted an all-blues show at Carnegie Hall and appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Over the years, he racked up 30 Grammy nominations and 15 wins, including two in 2000: one along with Eric Clapton for Best Traditional Blues Album for “Riding with the King,” and another with Dr. John for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for “Is You Is, or Is You Ain’t (My Baby).” His last was in February 2009 for Best Traditional Blues Album for “One Kind Favor” (2008). The thrill is gone: B.B. King dies | fox8.com The thrill is gone: B.B.

King dies Posted 3:48 am, May 15, 2015, by CNNwire Email This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. (CNN) — Riley B. King, the legendary guitarist known as B.B. King , whose velvety voice and staccato-picking style brought blues from the margins to the mainstream, died Thursday night. He was 89. His daughter, Patty King, said he died in Las Vegas, where he announced two weeks ago that he was in home hospice care after suffering from dehydration. King of the blues The Mississippi native’s reign as “king of the blues” lasted more than six decades and straddled two centuries, influencing a generation of rock and blues musicians, from Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan, to Sheryl Crow and John Mayer. His life was the subject of the documentary “B.B. King: The Life of Riley,” and the inspiration for the The B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, which opened in 2008.

King’s enduring legacy came from his refusal to slow down even after cementing his status as an American music icon. Even with a long list of honors to his name — Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, Presidential Medal of Freedom — he maintained a relentless touring schedule well into his 80s. Throughout his career, King evolved with the times to incorporate contemporary trends and influences without straying from his Delta blues roots. Whether he was sharing the stage with U2 on “When Loves Comes to Town” — a scene memorialized in the 1988 concert film, “Rattle and Hum” — or playing in the East Room of the White House with Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger, Jeff Beck and others, King’s single-string guitar notes trilled with an unmistakable vibrato from his hollow-bodied Gibson affectionately known as Lucille. Slowing down King finally started showing signs of his age last year after decades of living with Type II diabetes. A shaky show in St. Louis prompted his reps to issue an apology for “a performance that did not match Mr.

King’s usual standard of excellence.” He fell ill in October after a show at Chicago’s House of Blues due to dehydration and exhaustion, prompting a rare cancellation of the remainder of his tour. He was hospitalized for dehydration April in Las Vegas, a long way from his modest roots as the son of a sharecropper. King was born on September 16, 1925, on a cotton plantation between Indianola and what is now Itta Bena, Mississippi. He sang with church choirs as a child and learned basic guitar chords from his uncle, a preacher. In his youth, he played on street corners for dimes, saying he earned more in one night singing on the corner than he did in one week working in the cotton field. Beale Street Blues Boy He enlisted in the Army during World War II but was released because he drove a tractor, an essential homefront occupation. In 1947, he hitchhiked to Memphis, Tennessee, home to a thriving music scene that supported aspiring black performers. He stayed with his cousin Bukka White, one of the most celebrated blues performers of his time, who schooled King further in the art of the blues.

King took the Beale Street Blues Boy, or BB for short, as a disc jockey for radio station WDIA/AM Memphis. He got his first big break in 1948 by performing on Sonny Boy Williamson’s radio program out of West Memphis, leading to steady engagements at the Sixteenth Avenue Grill in West Memphis, and a 10-minute spot on WDIA. As “King’s Spot” grew in popularity on WDIA, King shortened “Beale Street Blues Boy” to “Blues Boy King,” and eventually B.B. King. His ascent continued in 1949 with his first recordings, “Miss Martha King/Take a Swing with Me” and “How Do You Feel When Your Baby Packs Up and Goes/I’ve Got the Blues.” His first hit record “Three O’clock Blues” was released in 1951 and stayed on the top of the charts for four months. Beloved Lucille It was during this era that King first named his beloved guitar Lucille. In the mid-1950s, King was performing at a dance in Twist, Arkansas, when a few fans became unruly and started a fire.

King ran out, forgetting his guitar, and risked his life to go back and get it. He later found out that two men fighting over a woman named Lucille knocked over a kerosene heater that started the fire. He named the guitar Lucille, “to remind myself never to do anything that foolish.” King has used various models of Gibson guitars over the years and named them each Lucille. In the 1980s, Gibson officially dropped the model number ES-355 on the guitar King used and it became a custom-made signature model named Lucille, manufactured exclusively for the “King of the Blues.” 30 Grammy nominations In 1970, he won his first Grammy, for Best R&B Vocal Performance Male for his trademark song, “The Thrill is Gone.” That same year, he debuted an all-blues show at Carnegie Hall and appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Over the years, he racked up 30 Grammy nominations and 15 wins, including two in 2000: one along with Eric Clapton for Best Traditional Blues Album for “Riding with the King,” and another with Dr.

John for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for “Is You Is, or Is You Ain’t (My Baby).” His last was in February 2009 for Best Traditional Blues Album for “One Kind Favor” (2008). ‘King Of The Blues’ Legend B.B. King Dead At 89 | HelloBeautiful ‘King Of The Blues’ Legend B.B. King Dead At 89 Posted 2 years ago. Leave a comment Source: Photo by Larry Busacca / Getty Legendary blues musician B.B. King has died in Las Vegas, his attorney told the Associated Press late Thursday. The musician, dubbed ‘King of the Blues’ for his influence on the genre he dominated for nearly seven decades, died in his sleep at his Las Vegas residence, attorney Brent Bryson said. He was 89-years-old. The news comes two weeks after it was announced that the ailing artist entered home hospice care in early May. In April, King’s daughter confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that her father was hospitalized for diabetes-related dehydration.

At the time, Claudette King told the Times the blues legend, who had battled Type II diabetes for more than 20 years, was “much better.” Best known for his unique mix of blues and jazz, his gritty voice and his electric Gibson guitar “Lucille,” King has been honored with a Presidential Medal of the Arts, honorary doctorates from Yale and Brown, a Kennedy Center Honor and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, among other accolades. He has also been the recipient of 15 Grammy awards — the first for his 1970 hit “The Thrill Is Gone” which went on to be one of King’s most popular and referenced masterpieces. Inspiring musicians from Carlos Santana to Eric Clapton, King continues to be a revered as a musical trailblazer for his transformative musical style and unapologetic devotion to the art. In 2005, King told USA Today “Blues is a tonic for whatever ails you.

I could play the blues and then not be blue anymore.” SOURCE: USA Today , LA Times , Rolling Stone | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty | VIDEO SOURCE: YouTube SEE ALSO: BB King: The King is gone but the thrill remains | The Independent Voices BB King: The King is gone but the thrill remains While his death edges the birth of the blues ever closer to the pages of history, his music is a living presence Saturday 16 May 2015 20:00 BST Click to follow The Independent Online BB King: ‘They can be good, they can even be better, but they can’t be me! They cannot feel what I feel’ AP Just a few months short of what would have been his 90th birthday, Riley B King – known to the world as B B King, the planet’s best-loved and most-honoured blues artist – left this plane of existence in the wee small hours of Thursday night, asleep in his home in Las Vegas . The King of the Blues, they called him; not to mention the Chairman of the Board of Blues Singers, the Dynamic Gentleman of the Blues and the World’s Greatest Blues Singer, among other soubriquets.

His gifts as guitarist, singer and entertainer were prodigious but all were put into service as vehicles for the warmth and generosity of spirit with which he would, in public, envelop his audiences and, in private, routinely extend to fans, predecessors, peers and protégés. To rock fans, he was the Falstaffian patriarch with the bull-horn voice and “Lucille”, the all-singing, all-dancing guitar that stole U2’s “When Love Comes to Town” from under them. To blues fans, he was the man who wrote the book on post-war electric-blues lead guitar; who knew more ways to bend and vibrate a note than Rihanna does to undress. To the world at large, he was as beloved a popular entertainer as any master musician since Louis Armstrong: he was welcome at any concert hall in the world, up to and including the grand stage of the White House. He was a legend, a titan, a virtual demigod. To himself, though, he remained an underachiever who never believed he had properly fulfilled his artistic or commercial potential. He was proud of his achievements but simultaneously dissatisfied with them: he always insisted that he could do more, could be better.

BB King: Career in pictures BB King: Career in pictures 1/15 BB King BB King gestures during his first performance at the Marciac Jazz festival, southwestern France, 1997 2/15 BB King B.B. King performs for hundreds at The Moore Theatre in Seattle, 2014 3/15 BB King BB King arrives on stage to perform US President Barack Obama lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse in Washington, 2010 4/15 BB King (L-R) Musicians The Edge, B.B. King, and Bono perform onstage during the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz honoring B.B. King event held at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, 2008 5/15 BB King B.B. King performs at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center, in Salisbury, 2007 6/15 BB King B.B. King signs copies of his new book 'The B.B. King Treasures' at Barnes & Noble in New York City, 2005 7/15 BB King (L-R) B.B.

King, Sam Haskell and Mary Haskell blow out candles on King's 80th birthday cake at the home of Sam and Mary Haskell in Encino, California, 2005 Funds raised from the event went towards the forthcoming B.B. King Museum in Indianola, Mississippi 8/15 BB King B.B. King (C), Steve Tyler (L) and Joe Perry (R) laugh as they present the Grammy for Best Rap Album during the 46th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, 2004 9/15 BB King BB King and Samuel L. Jackson at the 'Carousel of Hope Ball 2002' to benefit childhood diabetes, hosted by Barbara and Marvin Davis, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, 2002 10/15 BB King B.B. King poses with his Grammy Awards at the 43rd Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, 2001.

King won for Best Traditional Blues Album, 'Riding with the King', and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for the album entitled 'Is You Is, Or Is You Ain't' 11/15 BB King US President George Bush (R) and First Lady Barbara Bush (C) present the National Medal of Arts to blues musician B.B. King at the white House, 1990 12/15 BB King B.B. King performs at the Nice Jazz Festiva, 1985 13/15 BB King B.B. King and an accompanist perform during the opening of the 1980 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival 14/15 BB King B B King pewrforms on stage at an outdoor concert, 1979 15/15 BB King Portrait of the legendary blues singer, songwriter and guitarist B B King, second cousin of Bukka White, 1969 His trajectory from the depths of the harsh racism of the Mississippi Delta to the heights of global acclaim – from white supremacy to White House, if you will – may seem to have been the archetypal Delta bluesman’s story writ large.

However, B B King (the nickname is a contraction of “Beale Street Blues Boy”, his DJ handle when he broke into local radio thanks to assistance from Sonny Boy Williamson) was far from being a typical Delta bluesman in the vein of Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson or John Lee Hooker. Rather, his music typified the “Memphis Synthesis”, wherein the Delta blues encountered sophisticated jazz, jump and swing played by musicians from Kansas City and the Southwest territories. Despite his admiration for his slide-slinging cousin Booker T Washington –“Bukka” – White, young Riley aspired to sophistication: his guitar style drew on jazzmen Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and the supremely urbane Lonnie Johnson; his bands featured horn sections rather than harmonicas and he always declared that his favourite singers were Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. Read more Obituary: 'King of the Blues' influenced generations of guitarists His first record, cut in 1949, went nowhere in particular, but by 1951 he scored his first major hit, “Three O’Clock Blues”, and he was away.

The road claimed him and soon he was playing more than 300 shows a year. King’s following remained almost entirely black; his music didn’t appeal to either the rock’n’roll fans of the 1950s, who embraced Chuck Berry or Bo Diddley, or to the early ’60s consensus that allowed fans of The Rolling Stones and their ilk to explore the music of rootsier types such as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf or John Lee Hooker. But in 1968 he played a triumphant show at San Francisco’s Fillmore West, and in 1970 his reworking of Roy Hawkins’ 1948 song “The Thrill is Gone” brought him into the pop charts for the first time, enchanting younger soul and pop audiences alike. From then on, there was no stopping him. I bought my first B B King album (the 1966 live recording Blues is King, a successor to 1964’s definitive and iconic Live at the Regal and, in this listener’s opinion at least, arguably its superior) in 1968, when I was 17.

The first time I saw him in person (at what was then the Brixton Sundown, now the Academy) and interviewed him, he was considerably younger than I am now: 48 to my 22. On that occasion, and in all of our subsequent encounters, he was friendly, equable, hospitable and willing to attempt to answer each and every question even when he was clearly in a state of post-show exhaustion. “Well, this is very important to me,” he explained. “I want all my fans to know anything that they might want to know about me. Someone in this big… metropolitan… might want to know just the thing that you’re going to ask and, if that’s the case, I would like them to know.” The last of the titans? Muddy, John Lee and the Wolf are gone, as are Ray Charles, Albert King, Freddie King, Albert Collins, Little Walter and Bo Diddley. Bobby Bland, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Otis Rush are pretty much retired.

The seat at the head of the top table now passes to Louisiana-born Buddy Guy, a mere stripling at 78, but still almost as wild and feral with guitar in hand as he was in the 1950s, with 61-year-old Robert Cray as heir apparent. A truism, but nevertheless still true: they don’t make ’em like B B King no more. The social milieu that produced him has changed incalculably – though still not nearly enough – and the g-g-generation that drew its inspiration from the Real Guys (the generation of Eric Clapton and Johnny Winter) is itself now severely depleted, with the survivors counting the grey hairs in their beards. Remember B B this way: “ You’re not the greatest. You’re not the only one that can do it. There are many people who can do the same thing, if not better. There’s a lotta guys out there that can do exactly what you’re doin’. “But they can’t be you! That’s the only consolation. They can be good, they can be better, but they cannot feel what I feel.

Nobody knows what I feel.” Or, as John Lee Hooker once said, “When I die, they’ll bury the blues with me… but the blues will never die.” The King is dead. Long live the blues. The Thrill Is Gone â�� BB King R.I.P. Home / Issue 1080 / News / The Thrill Is Gone â�� BB King R.I.P. News Item The Thrill Is Gone â�� BB King R.I.P. BB King, the very last of the living blues legends and a true originator, has died at the age of 89. He passed away at 9.40pm US time in his sleep at his Las Vegas home on Thursday (14th May.) He had been in hospice care at his home for some days after previous recent spells of hospitalisation for dehydration, high blood pressure, a suspected mild heart attack and other complications from diabetes. He had cancelled tour dates due to ill health in 2014, after falling ill following an October 3rd show at Chicago's House of Blues. Back then he had eight gigs left on his tour, including shows at his own B.B. King Blues Club in New York.

At the time, a statement on his official website read: "BB King was immediately evaluated by a doctor and diagnosed with dehydration and suffering from exhaustion, whereby causing the eight remaining shows of his current tour to be cancelled." In April last year, he gave an erratic performance in St. Louis, which prompted complaints from fans and a statement apologising following the gig. "The combination of the rigors of the very long drive and high blood sugar due to his medication error resulted in a performance that did not match Mr. Kingâ��s usual standard of excellence," the official statement read. BB King suffered from Type II diabetes, a condition he lived with for more than 25 years. Earlier this month (May) BBâ��s business manager Laverne Toney said: 'Mr. King is where he wishes to be. He's always told me he doesn't want to be in a hospital. He wants to be at home.' A message on his Official Facebook page said: 'A Message From B.B. "I am in home hospice care at my residence in Las Vegas. Thanks to all for your well wishes and prayers." Former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman said BB was one of the giants of the last century.

Blues star Buddy Guy posted this message on his Facebook page: â��This morning, I come to you all with a heavy heart. BB King was the greatest guy I ever met. The tone he got out of that guitar, the way he shook his left wrist, the way he squeezed the strings... man, he came out with that and it was all new to the whole guitar playin' world. He could play so smooth, he didn't have to put on a show. The way BB did it is the way we all do it now. He was my best friend and father to us all. I'll miss you, B. I love you and I promise I will keep these damn Blues alive. Rest well. All my love, Buddy.â�� Eric Clapton posted a touching video to his Facebook page, and said: â��BB King a dear friend and inspiration to me....I want to thank you for all the inspiration and encouragement you gave me." "He was a beacon for all of us." British guitar great Albert Lee told me: "I'm very sad to hear of the passing of BB King. He took the blues genre and made it his own.

There have been many who followed him but he set the standard by which all will be judged. I never had the opportunity to meet him, but I was lucky enough to appear on some of Eric Clapton's Crossroads festivals with him. Everyone who knew him says that he was the kindest man. RIP." Joe Bonamassa: â��God bless you BB... Rest in peace my friend. Thank you for all that you did for this kid and so many others. An extremely sad day to say the least.â�� BB King gave Joe his big break as a youngster and took him on a US tour with him as the opening act, as well as inviting him on stage to jam with him, citing him as the future of the blues. Bassist Nathan East said: â��With a heavy heart I say goodbye to our beloved friend BB King. Thank you BB for your invaluable contribution to the world of music. Rest in Peace...â�� Joan Armatrading: â��Even if you are not into the blues you would have heard of BB King, and you don't have to be into the blues to know that his passing is a great loss to music.

RIP BB King.â�� US producer and songwriter Jon Tiven had several of his songs recorded by BB and produced the blues giant twice. "R.I.P. B.B. King. I was fortunate to produce him on two occasions, after the second he had me back to his crib for dinner. A good friend. The Blues will never be the same." Actor and blues musician Huge Laurie: â��What a great loss, let the sad times roll.â�� Lenny Kravitz: â��BB, anyone could play a thousand notes and never say what you said in one.â�� Ringo Starr said: â��"God bless BB King peace and love to his family." Singer Kelly Clarkson said: â��When I heard B.B. King for the first time he was singing The Thrill Is Gone. The way he played & sang brought tears to my eyes.â�� BB toured constantly until the end of 2014 and recorded 42 studio albums. His seven-decade career featured a performance at Glastonbury Music Festival and The White House, and included up to 342 shows per year. Born Riley B.

King â�� the middle initial apparently doesnâ��t stand for anything - on Sept. 16, 1925, in Itta Bena, Mississippi on a cotton plantation, to Albert Lee King and Nora Ella (Farr) King, who were sharecroppers. They separated when BB was four and his mother died when he was nine. He lived alone for some years until moving back in with his father. He became known as â��B.B.â�� during the late 1940s, when he was known as the Beale Street Blues Boy as a young Memphis DJ. He got his first guitar at the age of 12, a present from his father at a cost of $12. He sang in a gospel group and on street corners. His introduction to the blues came via his cousin, legendary blues singer and guitarist Bukka White. He was glued to the gramophone when records by Lonnie Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson were being played, and peeping through a hole in the wall of a nightclub in the nearby town of Indianola to hear visiting performers such as Louis Jordan. He left school early and worked on a farm, getting an exemption from military service in WWII.

He was married at 18, ending in divorce, as did a second marriage. He fathered 15 children by 15 different women, but both marriages were childless. He provided financial support for all of his children and never contested paternity. After the war he moved to Memphis, about 130 miles north of his home in the country. He cut his first record in 1949 and got his first hit, â��Three Oâ��Clock Blues,â�� in 1951. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. That same year, he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. George H.W. Bush presented him with a Presidential Medal of the Arts, in 1990. He was a Kennedy Center honoree in 1995 and in 2006 was a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nationâ��s highest civilian honor.The B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center opened in 2008 in the Indianola cotton mill where BB once worked.

His unique sound on his famous Lucille guitar, and his soulful, full-throated vocals made him an international music icon and the most commercially successful performer in blues history. His lawyer, Attorney Brent Bryson said King died peacefully in his sleep at 9:40 p.m. PDT at his Clark County, Nevada home in Las Vegas. His youngest daughter, Claudette King, issued a brief heartfelt statement on her Facebook page: â��It is with great sadness that we relay on that Blues legend BB King has died in Las Vegas at the age of 89. The Family thanks you in advance for your condolences during this very delicate time and asks that all respect their privacy. Please remember him in your heart.â�� BB King was a winner of 15 Grammy Awards, the most of any blues artist. His theme tune, and always the last song in his live set: â��The Thrill Is Gone,â�� was his sole mainstream chart hit single, back in 1970, but he had many RnB chart hits.

Staples of his set list included â��Everyday I Have the Blues,â�� â��Rock Me Baby,â�� â��You Better Not Look Down,â�� and â��Hummingbird,â�� which he had recorded with Carol King. BB King probably influenced more guitarists than any other blues man. He was able to say in one note what most other players took a whole bunch of notes to say. Eric Clapton recorded a double-platinum hit album â��Riding With The King,â�� with BB and was a huge admirer of his playing. â��I donâ��t think thereâ��s a better blues guitarist in the world,â�� he said. BB joined Irish rockers U2 on â��When Love Comes to Town,â�� in the late 1980s. His guitar, christened Lucille, got its name in 1949 when BB King was performing in a roadhouse bar and a fight broke out. A kerosene burner was knocked over and the building was set on fire. BB ran through the flames to rescue his precious guitar and heard someone say the fight was over a girl called Lucille.

There have been at least 17 different Lucille guitars in BBâ��s life. For years he played a Gibson ES355 TDV model and then some years back Gibson made the BB King signature Lucille model, which he played from then on. They made a limited edition special model for his 80th birthday. During his show, he would talk about why he named his guitar Lucille, and recall dashing back into the fire and risking his own life, as he was so broke and needed to save that guitar to be able to work. BB would tell his audience: â��That guitar always reminded me you can always get another guitar, but you canâ��t get another BB King.â�� Back in the 50s and 60s, he was playing over 300 one nighters a year, and even in his 70s and 80s he averaged at least 250 appearances a year. In 2004 he said he had missed just 18 days of playing in 57 years.

From his start on the â��chitlin circuit,â�� BB became the first bluesman to perform on Johnny Carsonâ��s â��Tonightâ�� show on national US television in 1970. He endorsed many products and became a big commercial success as a businessman, including opening a chain of BB Kingâ��s blues clubs across the USA. â��BB King: The Life Of Riley,â�� the film of BBâ��s life and career was released in cinemas and on DVD in October 2012, directed and produced by British film maker Jon Brewer, and narrated by actor Morgan Freeman. It was recently shown on BBC television here in the UK. Jon paid tribute to BB, on the news of his passing: "Our hearts are broken by the loss of BB King, and our condolences go out to his family and dedicated team. He was an outstanding man and musician. During the making of our film and my personal involvement with B, I learnt so much of his kindness, generosity and sincerity as a human being and I am honoured to have been able to bring this talented manâ��s story to the world.

His passing is truly a great loss for the music industry.â�� Morgan Freeman paid tribute to BB on news of his death: "Needless to say, BB was the greatest blues icon on the planet. He kept us rocking and rolling throughout a seventy year career. His passing has created a hole in the universe." From The White House - President Obama had the following to say on the passing of American icon B.B. King: "The blues has lost its king, and America has lost a legend. B.B. King was born a sharecropperâ��s son in Mississippi, came of age in Memphis, Tennessee, and became the ambassador who brought his all-American music to his country and the world. No one worked harder than B.B. No one inspired more up-and-coming artists. No one did more to spread the gospel of the blues. "Three years ago, Michelle and I hosted a blues concert at the White House. I hadnâ��t expected that Iâ��d be talked into singing a few lines of â��Sweet Home Chicagoâ�� with B.B. by the end of the night, but that was the kind of effect his music had, and still does.

He gets stuck in your head, he gets you moving, he gets you doing the things you probably shouldnâ��t do â�� but will always be glad you did. B.B. may be gone, but that thrill will be with us forever. And thereâ��s going to be one killer blues session in heaven tonight." Jimmie Vaughan, Fabulous Thunderbird and brother of Steve Ray Vaughan said, "heaven done called the head blues stringer back home." He added: "It's raining here in Texas. The sky is crying. B.B. you were the greatest blues guitar player, you wrote the book and it's been that way since the first time I heard you. There will never be another like you. You were so kind and thoughtful. We'll miss you everyday." BB was a qualified private pilot, learning to fly in 1963. He often flew himself to his concerts, but under the advice of his insurance company and his manager in 1995, he was asked to fly only with another pilot. He stopped flying at the age of 70. â�¢ I worked with BB King (as a photographer and journalist) many times over a period of almost four decades.

The first time was in 1978 at the Rainbow Theatre, Finsbury Park, London. A mighty presence on that big stage in his white suit and clutching Lucille to his chest. The final time was at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in 2004. By then he had to sit down for his entire set, as his legs were not strong enough for him to stand like he used to. He still did a three+ hour set! Joined on stage by an array of special guest stars, including Cornell Dupree and Dr John. I was given a seat about 10 feet from BB actually on the stage, to watch the entire set. The artist I managed at that time, US soul singer Earl Thomas had opened for BB that night with his band, and it was arranged for him to make a second appearance; this time guesting with BB and his band, singing on one song while BB played guitar. BB was so taken with Earlâ��s voice and stage presence; he invited him to stay on stage for the rest of the set! He sang many songs with BB and his band, and a star-studded guest list. It was a sensational night.

After the show, the stage cleared and BB sat while fans flocked to the front of the stage to tell him how wonderful he was. He waved and sat there for a good 15 minutes, while security tried to clear the huge auditorium. He then got up to walk back stage, very unsteady on his feet. I automatically gave him a steadying hand and he took my arm and I walked him slowly off the stage, down the ramp and through the corridors backstage. We had a good chat about his touring, his love of the life he lead, how he HAD to sing and play and that was what he lived for. I recalled several of the shows I had shot pictures of him at, and how honoured I was to have had that opportunity, and to meet him several times, including that very night. He remembered the Rainbow show in â��78 and who was in his band, and the outdoors show in Leicester in 2001. We got backstage and there was a crowd of crew and other artists applauding him and asking to have photos taken with him. I took a few of him posing with Cornell Dupree, legendary jazz pianist Les McCann (telling dirty jokes to BB!) and others.

Then myself and his manager walked him into his dressing room. As the door was closing and I said goodbye, he called me in, reached out and grabbed my hand, and placed in it his plectrum â�� which has his name on it â�� and a metal Lucille / BB King guitar lapel pin badge. Thanking me for my kindness in helping him, telling me he wanted me to send my photos to his people for him to see and saying how good he thought the artist I managed was. I treasure those items he gave me. I also still have the official tour jacket from the 2001 UK tour which I shot pix on. And of course, lots and lots of photos of the great man in action and backstage, from 1978 to 2004. His music and those wonderful memories live on for ever. The photographs are a treasured archive of a real King. The thrill is gone. The King is gone.

Long live the Kingâ�¦ â�¢ Respected Leicester-based blues guitarist and singer Geoff Overon is a huge BB King fan and collector, and has seen the man live on stage circa 25 times, in the UK and several times at the Montreux Jazz Festival. He paid tribute to the late and great bluesman, citing BBâ��s invention of the vibrato on the guitar strings as a major legacy he will leave behind. â��He was the inventor of that vibrato, that unique BB King sound. His choice of notes made him sound more like a clarinettist to me. He swung more like the jazz sensibility. He didnâ��t just play straight pattern blues shapes, he used different notes to most other players. His legacy will be some great recordings, especially his classic, â��Live At The Regal,â�� which has influenced many players, and is one of the greatest live albums of all time.

I prefer his album, â��Live In Cook County Jail,â�� though.If it wasnâ��t for the vibrato technique that BB himself called â��twinging,â�� thereâ��d be no Peter Green, Eric Clapton or Paul Kossoff.â�� Geoff was with me as my +1 guest when I shot pictures of BB at The Rainbow Theatre in London in 1978, his first time of seeing him as well as mine. He said that show that was probably the best concert he had seen by his hero, out of all of the times he had seen him on stage. â��He and the band were more subtle back then. More bluesy and less commercial. Much of the slower, deeper more heartfelt blues stuff was dropped in favour of the big, brassy Vegas type approach in later years. But at that 1978 show it was a classic long standing line-up of his band, and there was a lot of real passionate blues. He was mighty that night.â�� â�¢ All of us at Blues & Soul magazine send our deepest condolences to Mr Kingâ��s family and friends. We thank you for the music Riley B. King.

Words SIMON REDLEY The thrill is gone: Blues legend B.B. King succombs at 89 - AXS The thrill is gone: Blues legend B.B. King succombs at 89 By: Mona Austin May 22, 2015 2951726 6 y2015m05d22 54772 Youtube The man who gave us blues, blues, and nuthin' but the blues for over six decades has passed away. Mississippi born, Riley B. King, known as blues titan B.B. King, a name synonymous with the genre, died peacefully while sleeping in his Las Vegas home on Thursday night. His attorney, Brent Bryson confirmed his death. King was 89. Mr. King was the "face" of blues. His story reads like the lines of a blues song as he literally sang his way from the cotton fields to the White House. On Facebook, Claudette King, the daughter of the legendary blues man left a simple statement on behalf of their family acknowledging his passing: "It is with great sadness that we relay on that Blues legend BB King has died in Las Vegas at the age of 89.

The Family thanks you in advance for your condolences during this very delicate time and asks that all respect their privacy. Please remember him in your heart." ~Claudette "The Bluz Queen" King Undoubtedly, King will be remembered for championing the music he loved until the end and possessing the finesse to appeal to fans from various races, classes, sexes and ages. His gentlemanly approach with a genre that was "muddy" by nature enabled him to sell millions of records beyond stops along the "Chitlin' Circuit." In a way, fans are mourning two losses today--King, the master of a signature one note ripping style of playing, and Lucille -- a "talking" guitar. A member of both the Blues Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Mr. King will be remembered for inventing an instantly recognizable, single string pluck that gave his "Lucille" (originally a Gibson acoustic guitar), her own voice and him a place among the "music gods." Their inseparable music marriage lasted over 60 years. Lucille was named after a woman two men fought over in an Arkansas bar that caught on fire during the ruckus.

As the oft told story goes, two people died that night, but his guitar, for which he'd paid only $30 at the time, was found the following day having survived through the ashes. King started playing electric guitar shortly thereafter and switched guitars over the years, but kept the spirit of Lucille alive by keeping the same name, sound and story. The way King wrapped Lucille in the cradle of his arm as he played was just one sign of a special connection he felt toward the instrument. In his concerts he told stories of how Lucille saved his life on many different occasions. The distant look in his eyes and animated facial contortions that occurred when his vibrating fingers massaged electric coos, squalls and sensuous vibrations out of her were other signs. An extension of his emotions, he said Lucile sometimes spoke for him. B.B. and Lucille were like a couple that never seemed to quarrel. For King, Lucille represented more than part of an act. She was the personification of an ever-faithful female companion who eased his weariness.

In classic tunes such as "The Thrill Is Gone" and "The Blues is Alright," King would sing and wail, then Lucille would respond in total agreement, touching the souls of listeners around the world. In many recordings Lucille started the conversation, seeming to allow the artist to release his deepest hang-ups whether about love, lust or life. His perpetual sidekick, the guitar became as reputable as its owner. Together they accumulated copious high honors, winning the first of 15 Grammy Awards for the "The Thrill is Gone" in 1970. "I'm very crazy about Lucille," explains King during a performance of the song by the same name. "Lucille took me from the plantation. Or you might say, brought me fame." The song is a tribute that aptly details what "Lucille" meant to Mr. King. B.B. King Biography | B.B. King | The Official Website of the King of the Blues, B.B. King B.B. King B.B. King B.B. King Biography His reign as King of the Blues has been as long as that of any monarch on earth. Yet B.B. King continues to wear his crown well.

At age 76, he is still light on his feet, singing and playing the blues with relentless passion. Time has no apparent effect on B.B., other than to make him more popular, more cherished, more relevant than ever. Don’t look for him in some kind of semi-retirement; look for him out on the road, playing for people, popping up in a myriad of T.V. commercials, or laying down tracks for his next album. B.B. King is as alive as the music he plays, and a grateful world can’t get enough of him. For more than half a century, Riley B. King – better known as B.B. King – has defined the blues for a worldwide audience. Since he started recording in the 1940s, he has released over fifty albums, many of them classics. He was born September 16, 1925, on a plantation in Itta Bena, Mississippi, near Indianola. In his youth, he played on street corners for dimes, and would sometimes play in as many as four towns a night. In 1947, he hitchhiked to Memphis, TN, to pursue his music career.

Memphis was where every important musician of the South gravitated, and which supported a large musical community where every style of African American music could be found. B.B. stayed with his cousin Bukka White, one of the most celebrated blues performers of his time, who schooled B.B. further in the art of the blues. B.B.’s first big break came in 1948 when he performed on Sonny Boy Williamson’s radio program on KWEM out of West Memphis. This led to steady engagements at the Sixteenth Avenue Grill in West Memphis, and later to a ten-minute spot on black-staffed and managed Memphis radio station WDIA. “King’s Spot,” became so popular, it was expanded and became the “Sepia Swing Club.” Soon B.B. needed a catchy radio name. What started out as Beale Street Blues Boy was shortened to Blues Boy King, and eventually B.B. King. In the mid-1950s, while B.B. was performing at a dance in Twist, Arkansas, a few fans became unruly. Two men got into a fight and knocked over a kerosene stove, setting fire to the hall. B.B.

raced outdoors to safety with everyone else, then realized that he left his beloved $30 acoustic guitar inside, so he rushed back inside the burning building to retrieve it, narrowly escaping death. When he later found out that the fight had been over a woman named Lucille, he decided to give the name to his guitar to remind him never to do a crazy thing like fight over a woman. Ever since, each one of B.B.’s trademark Gibson guitars has been called Lucille. Soon after his number one hit, “Three O’Clock Blues,” B.B. began touring nationally. In 1956, B.B. and his band played an astonishing 342 one-night stands. From the chitlin circuit with its small-town cafes, juke joints, and country dance halls to rock palaces, symphony concert halls, universities, resort hotels and amphitheaters, nationally and internationally, B.B. has become the most renowned blues musician of the past 40 years. Over the years, B.B. has developed one of the world’s most identifiable guitar styles.

He borrowed from Blind Lemon Jefferson, T-Bone Walker and others, integrating his precise and complex vocal-like string bends and his left hand vibrato, both of which have become indispensable components of rock guitarist’s vocabulary. His economy, his every-note-counts phrasing, has been a model for thousands of players, from Eric Clapton and George Harrison to Jeff Beck. B.B. has mixed traditional blues, jazz, swing, mainstream pop and jump into a unique sound. In B.B.’s words, “When I sing, I play in my mind; the minute I stop singing orally, I start to sing by playing Lucille.” In 1968, B.B. played at the Newport Folk Festival and at Bill Graham’s Fillmore West on bills with the hottest contemporary rock artists of the day who idolized B.B. and helped to introduce him to a young white audience. In “69, B.B. was chosen by the Rolling Stones to open 18 American concerts for them; Ike and Tina Turner also played on 18 shows. B.B. was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

He received NARAS’ Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 1987, and has received honorary doctorates from Tougaloo(MS) College in 1973; Yale University in 1977; Berklee College of Music in 1982; Rhodes College of Memphis in 1990; Mississippi Valley State University in 2002 and Brown University in 2007. In 1992, he received the National Award of Distinction from the University of Mississippi. In 1991, B.B. King’s Blues Club opened on Beale Street in Memphis, and in 1994, a second club was launched at Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles. A third club in New York City’s Times Square opened in June 2000 and most recently two clubs opened at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut in January 2002. In 1996, the CD-Rom On The Road With B.B. King: An Interactive Autobiography was released to rave reviews.

Also in 1996, B.B.’s autobiography, “Blues All Around Me” (written with David Ritz for Avon Books) was published. In a similar vein, Doubleday published “The Arrival of B.B. King” by Charles Sawyer, in 1980. B.B. continued to tour extensively, averaging over 250 concerts per year around the world. Classics such as “Payin’ The Cost To Be The Boss,” “The Thrill Is Gone,” How Blue Can You Get,” “Everyday I Have The Blues,” and “Why I Sing The Blues” are concert (and fan) staples.

Over the years, the Grammy Award-winner has had two #1 R&B hits, 1951’s “Three O’Clock Blues,” and 1952’s “You Don’t Know Me,” and four #2 R&B hits, 1953’s “Please Love Me,” 1954’s “You Upset Me Baby,” 1960’s “Sweet Sixteen, Part I,” and 1966’s “Don’t Answer The Door, Part I.” B.B.’s most popular crossover hit, 1970’s “The Thrill Is Gone,” went to #15 pop. B.B. passed away in his sleep on May 14th 2015 Stay Up-To-Date

Question: What legendary blues guitarist, best known for his hit "The Thrill Is Gone" , played a guitar he dubbed Lucille?
Answer: B.  B. King